Flying High Everyday
by Kaiyo No Umi
Summary: Another day in the Planeptune household and the little one has nothing to do and Aunty Blanc has come to save the day! With memories of when Neptune and Blanc were little, watch as Little Neptune and Little Blanc's friendship overcome different obstacles every year that lead up to the events of "A Loner's Idol Family"! *Final Part of the Family Series*
1. Prologue

_Flying High Everyday - Prologue_

A small girl sat on a couch in front of a wide screen T.V., absentmindedly swinging her legs as she watched an anime about a boy who loves small things work as a waiter at an eccentric family resturant, where he meets a tiny girl (who says she's not tiny) and many more. The reason she was watching this is because the main character's love interest (not the tiny girl but an androphobic girl who punches guys on reflex) is voiced by her mom.

A yawn erupted from behind the girl as her father's best friend walked up to girl, patting her on the head and plopping down next to her, causing the girl to pop up into the air for a second.

"Morning Plutia." The girl blinked slowly before looking out the window, the sky was slowly turning from a light blue to a yellowish orange. A large smile grew on the girl's face as she patted her father's friend on the arm.

"Auuuunty Blannyyyy, it's almost noooooon!" The woman rubbed her eyes then stretched out her body.

"Oh sorry, good afternoon Plutia." The smile grew larger.

"Goooooooood afternooooon!" The ending song from the T.V. show came up and Plutia picked up the remote turning off the T.V. "I'm dooone!" Plutia put the remote at her side and began staring at the blank T.V. screen.

"Alright, I'm going to grab something to eat." Right before Blanc could leave her seat, Plutia stood up and wrapped her arms around Blanc's neck and her legs around Blanc's torso. The woman chuckled as the girl nuzzled her neck.

Leaving the couch, the duo headed towards the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door.

"Oh hey, pudding." Taking the treat, Blanc reached into the drawer for a spoon. As she searched for a spoon of the right size, mixing the spoons up at the same time, Plutia unwrapped her legs and began hanging them. Blanc looked over her shoulder to see the small girl enjoying herself.

"Aunty Blanny, wouldn't Daddy be mad if you ate that?" Despite her question, Plutia revealed no worry in her voice as she swung side to side as Blanc returned to the couch.

"Nah, I usually buy him a new one before he gets here. Neptune won't notice." Blanc pulled tab off the pudding cup and began to dig in.

"Aunty Blanny?"

"Yes?" The woman popped the spoon of sweetness into her mouth.

"Why do you know my Daddy so well?" A smirk.

"Well, we're not just best friends. We're childhood friends." A sparkle in the purple-haired girl's red eyes.

"Reeeeeeallly!?" Blanc tapped the girl's arm and Plutia let go, plopping onto the cushion below her. The woman stood up, placing the pudding cup on the table and digging the spoon into the treat.

"Hold on, I'll be right back."

"Kaaaaay!" Blanc quickly jogged out of the living room and her fading footsteps could be heard moving up. In no time at all, the woman returned holding a thick book, from what the little girl could see, all of the pages were covered in some sort of plastic covering.

"Here, take a look." Placing the book in front of her, Plutia opened the book to find pictures.

"*Gasp* It's Daddy!" Blanc patted Plutia's head as she flipped through the pages. "He's sooooo cuuuute!"

"Yeah, although I can't remember most of these pictures." When Plutia flipped to a certain page, Blanc placed her hand over the girl's smaller one. "Hold it right there." Blanc's finger traced over a picture in the center.

The picture depicted a Blanc and Neptune about the same age as Plutia, the both of them were covered in dirt and leaves, holding plastic bags.

"This I remember," Blanc picked up Plutia and placed her on the woman's lap. "Fasten your seatbelt, kid. We're going on a trip down Memory Lane."

"But, Daddy said we're not going to Zislet Planet until next month." Blanc rolled her eyes.

"Well, we're going on an imaginary trip so close your eyes." Excited, Plutia followed her elder's instructions and began bouncing in her seat.

"This picture was about…"

 _To Be Continued in…_

 _Flying High Everyday - Memory One: Errand_


	2. Memory One: Errand

_Memory One: Errand_

"Blanc~!" A small girl lying on the floor looked up from her book to see a just as small purple haired boy run to her and hop into the air, landing next to the girl.

"Neptune." The boy grinned and pressed his face against the Blanc's. "What?" Her friend pulled himself away from Blanc to get onto his knees.

"Well, well, well," The purple-haired boy crawled over the brown haired girl and laid on top of her, making a cross. "Aunty Mina gave me an errand!" Blanc removed her gaze from her friend and returned to her book.

"That's nice." Blanc flipped a page as a hand grabbed her arm. "Hm?" Blinking her eyes, the girl realized that she was lifted into the air. "Ah."

"LET'S GO!" Neptune ran towards the door, dragging Blanc with him and making the girl drop her book.

"Wa-Wait!" The boy skidded to a stop and Blanc flung forwards. Since Blanc was holding onto Neptune, he was pulled along with her as well, causing the both of them fall onto floor. The girl got onto her knees and narrowed her eyes at her best friend, who was lying facedown on the ground. "Why did you stop!?" Neptune pulled his face off of the floor and let his chin rest on it.

"But... you said to stop." The two stared at each other for a second, one glaring and one smiling, before Blanc sighed. Blanc scratched the back of her head as her mother, Mina Nishizawa, looked into the doorway to see her daughter and her neighbor's son lying on the ground. Upon seeing her mother, Blanc immediately got up to her feet and ran behind her mother.

"Mother, Neptune's trying to take me on an errand." Neptune got to his knees and grinned, giving Mina a peace sign. Mina gave the boy a smile and returned the peace sign before patting Blanc on the head.

"Yes, I know Blanc. I asked him to take you." The girl blinked, looked to her mother, then to her friend, blinking one more time.

"Eh?" Blanc widened her eyes as she stepped away from her mother. Blanc's mother crouched and placed her hands on Blanc's shoulders.

"Blanc, I want you to do this, rather, I need you to do this." The girl shook her head, but the woman wrapped her arms around her daughter, pulling her close. "Please, Blanc. If you do this, Mother will be very happy." Blanc looked to the left, then to the right, catching her best friend giving her the thumbs up before sighing.

"...Fine." Pulling away, Blanc was meet with a warm smile. Mina reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"Thank you, here's the list just in case Neptune forgets what I need you two to get." Blanc took the paper and Mina led her daughter upstairs. "Now go get ready." Blanc nodded and ran upstairs. Once she was at the highest step, she turned around and looked at Neptune.

"You meet me outside your house, so get ready." Neptune flung his hand into the air, a wide smile on his face.

"Alright!"

* * *

Blanc walked out of her house, wearing a long sleeved white jacket with a fur hood with blue cuffs over a white dress with brown X buttons and a white hat that added immensely to her height. Her white shoes tapped against the ground as she walked next door to see Neptune waiting at the front gate.

Blanc's close friend wore a white hoodie with a purple hood and purple cuffs and white shorts. Neptune's purple sneakers bounced on the ground as his best friend approached her.

"Blanc, over here!" Once Blanc reached Neptune, the boy turned around and began to rush ahead. "LET'S G-"

"Hold it." Blanc grabbed Neptune by the hood, causing the boy to run in place. When the boy noticed that he wasn't moving, Neptune stopped running and turned his head to look at his friend.

"What's wrong, Blanc?" The girl leaned up to Neptune's face, her eyes darkening and holding a finger.

"Do you even know where to go?" A sweatdrop rolled down the boy's face as he tried to remember.

"Uh… um… the candy store?" Blanc sighed and shook her head.

"No, we're going to the grocery store." The girl let go of Neptune and grabbed him by the hand. "Come on, let's go." Blanc pulled the boy down the street and turned the corner.

"Kay!" Neptune smiled and tightened his grip on Blanc's.

* * *

The duo turned the corners of her their neighborhood, passing by a park. When Neptune laid his eyes on the park, he tried to run towards it and play, but Blanc kept a strong grip and pulled him close to her.

"Blanc, I wanna plaaaay!" The girl then imagined herself reading on the tricycle that her mother had bought her last year while Neptune pulled her along, but then her mind returned to her mother smiling at Blanc bringing her the groceries. The girl took a deep breath then turned to her low attention spanned best friend.

"Neptune, we can play when we get home." The boy made a circle with his mouth and then smiled at Blanc.

"Oh right!" Neptune then walked ahead, pulling Blanc with him. "Let's hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"Ah, Neptune wait! We're supposed to go that way!"

"Oooooh!"

* * *

Eventually, Blanc and Neptune entered the grocery store, still holding hands. Upon hearing the chime of people entering the store, the woman at the cashier looked around, confused, until she looked down.

"Ah, welcome you two. Where's your mother?" Neptune threw a hand into the air, while Blanc waved at the cashier.

"Hi, grocerady!" The woman made an awkward chuckle at Neptune's greeting.

"Hello, Mother's sent us on an errand." The cashier smiled and put her hands together.

"I see, do you know what you need to get?" Letting go of Neptune, Blanc reached into her dress pocket, freezing when she didn't feel the paper in her pocket. The girl's hands flew to her jacket pockets, finding the same result. Blanc's face slowly turned blue and shook. While she was getting ready, Blanc realized she left the paper at home.

"Ah… Ah… Ah…" Remembering that Neptune was with her, she quickly turned to her best friend, who was staring at a pile of peaches. "Neptune!" Blanc's voice caught the girl's attention. "Do you remember what we need to get?" Neptune put a finger to his cheek, humming for a second and closing his eyes before pointing the finger into the air.

"Nope!" Shocked, Blanc dropped to her knees, the picture of her smiling mother shattering to tiny pieces. Tears began to fill the girl's eyes as she tried to face the realization that she failed her mother.

"Oh my…" The cashier put a hand to her cheek, worried about the girl while Neptune watched Blanc's tears began to flow down her face. The boy frowned and patted Blanc on the head.

"Blanc don't cry…" Neptune reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a tissue out of his pocket. "Here." Thanking him, Blanc reached for the napkin.

When the girl's fingers felt the napkin, Blanc noticed that napkin was less soft like a napkin and more papery…

"What is…" Blanc wiped her eyes with her sleeve, causing Neptune to complain that he gave a napkin to wipe her eyes. Upon removing her sleeve from her face, Blanc saw that Neptune had given her a folded piece of paper. "Th-This is-!" Blanc unfolded the paper and read the ingredients, the exact ingredients that her mother had written down… and in the same handwriting too! "Neptune, where did you get this?" The boy scratched the back of his head.

"Aunty Mina gave it to me before I left, saying that I might need it." Blanc handed the list to the lady, who looked at it and nodded.

"Alright, I'll get everything ready for you so hold on for a minute." The woman moved from the behind the cashier and began to gather the items the two needed for Mina. Suddenly, Neptune was at the receiving end of a hug.

"Th-Thank you…" Smiling, Neptune wrapped his arms around his best friend.

"Man, I never thought a tissue would make you so happy, Blanc." The cashier lady stood in front of the two and held two plastic bags in front of them.

"Alright, here you go. That'll be one thousand seven hundred credits." The two of them looked at the cashier lady and tilted their heads.

"...Eh?"

* * *

The two exited the grocery store, bags in hand.

"It was a good thing, Aunty Mina gave us enough credits." Blanc nodded as she held her plastic bag as tightly as possible.

"Mmm." Blanc held onto Neptune's free hand and walked down the roads back home.

As they were walking down one of the many roads they took to reach the store, Neptune and Blanc heard faint mewling sounds. Following the sound, the two found a baby kitten stuck in a tree branch.

"Ah!" Neptune let go of her friend and pointed at the the kitten. "That little kitty needs help!" Neptune dropped his bag of groceries, which Blanc hastily picked up, and attempted to climb the three, having difficulty. Watching her friend's mission, Blanc pouted.

"Neptune, we have to hurry!" Neptune looked at Blanc with pleading eyes.

"Blanc, help me reach the kitty!" Narrowing her eyes, Blanc sighed and gently put the groceries on the ground.

"Fine…" Blanc grabbed onto Neptune's legs and hoisted him over his shoulders. Gaining new height, Neptune reached out to the kitten. Almost immediately, the kitten hopped onto Neptune's arm and climbed down his arms, sliding into Blanc's dress. As the kitten squirmed around, Blanc began to laugh as the animal's fur was tickling her skin, causing the two fall onto the ground.

The kitten climbed out of Blanc's dress and ran down the road as the duo sat up. Both of the children were covered in dirt and scratched up from the fall. Blanc and Neptune helped each other up and picked up a bag of groceries each.

"...We should go home…" Neptune nodded and took Blanc's hand, heading back to Blanc's house.

"Do you think we'll get candy?" Blanc shrugged as their homes came into view.

"Probably."

* * *

"Eh!? So that's what happened to you?" Blanc smiled, flipping away this page and having her eyes stick to another picture.

"Yeah…" This picture was of a picture of Mina's lap, holding onto to two bundles, one pink and one blue. Surrounding the bundles was a smiling Blanc and a grinning Neptune holding onto a tiny Nepgear. "Oh, this picture." Plutia looked away from the picture and stared at her father's best friend.

'What is it?" Blanc looked at the picture, smiling fondly.

"This is picture is about…"

 _To be continued in..._

 _Memory Two: Siblings_


	3. Memory Two: Siblings

_Memory 2: Siblings_

* * *

"Blaaaanc!" Lying on a bed with a dark purple blanket spread over the top, Blanc stared at her picture book. However, she didn't move her hands, nor did her eyes stay on the page. Rather, her pupils were cloudy and her tiny mouth was tilted into a tinier frown.

Neptune happily walked into his room, a white blob with purple hair on his back. As he approached his best friend, the blob began to stir and the boy stopped to check on the blob. After a moment, the boy moved over to his bed and leaned his body against it, his head barely reaching the top of the mattress. However, Blanc did not react, still staring at the page in front of her. Biting the inside of his cheek, Neptune shifted the blob to a more comfortable position on his back, so that he could hold it with one hand, and poke his best friend in the leg.

"Hey, Blanc!"

 ***poke poke***

The girl still showed no response.

"Blanc?"

 ***poke poke***

This time, Blanc blinked but her eyes were still cloudy.

"Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaanc!"

 ***poke poke***

After the third attempt, Blanc blinked her eyes and now her eyes refocused. Turning to the source of the poking, Blanc came face to face with Neptune… and another head over his shoulder staring at him with curious eyes. The girl froze upon seeing the two heads.

"Yay! You finally noticed!" The boy noticed Blanc's eyes shirk and turned around to see what she was looking at. When Neptune turned around, the girl saw the extra body on his back and sighed in relief. "Eh? What's wrong, Blanc?" Shaking her head, Blanc closed her book and shifted to a sitting position.

"No, I'm okay… I think." Neptune attempted to put the blob onto the bed, but his arms could lift the blob high enough. "Ah." Blanc reached over and pulled the blob onto the bed while Neptune slid onto the floor. The blob tilted its head upwards and its violet eyes locked onto Blanc's blue ones.

"Buran…" The blob reached for Blanc's face and slid into her lap. Smiling, Blanc poked the blob in her soft squishy cheek.

"Hello, Nepgear." Upon hearing her name, the blob known as Nepgear giggled and began to play with Blanc's finger. Meanwhile, Neptune was struggling to get onto his own bed. The girl looked to see her best friend struggling to get his leg over the bed and eventually dropping back to the ground. Getting onto his knees, Neptune crawled under the bed and returned with a small wooden step ladder, using it to get onto the bed.

"Ah… I'm tired…" Nepgear got onto all fours and crawled over to her big brother, pinching his cheek and pulling it. "Waaaaah, Nep. Jr staaaaaph." Watching the Nep siblings, Blanc returned to her former trance, this time looking out the window nearby their bed and at her empty home. The girl then looked past her house and in the distance, a tall grey building could be seen where her mother was at the moment. Neptune noticed the girl's gaze and pulled away from Nepgear, who landed onto her side, giggling and grabbing her feet. As the girl stared at the building that contained her mother, her best friend glomped her, knocking them onto the bed as Neptune squished his cheek against Blanc's.

"Nept-" The boy refused to give Blanc a word in as he nuzzled her cheek.

"Blanc, don't be sad!" Neptune then wrapped his arms around his best friend. "I don't want you to be sad!" The girl tried to pry herself away from the boy, but Neptune kept his grip as strong as a six year old could make it.

"Ne-Neptune, st-stop it!" Neptune's hair began to tickle Blanc, causing the girl to laugh and twist under the boy's grasp. Nepgear stared at the two as she lied on her side, slowly drifting to sleep. "You're tickling me!" As Neptune continued his innocent onslaught, Neptune's mother, Histoire, walked into the room. The woman put a smile on her face as she watched the two cuddle and laugh.

"Neptune. Blanc." The kids stopped playing and looked to see Histoire come over and pick up Nepgear. "We're going somewhere in a bit, so you two should take a bath before you go." Neptune and Blanc sat up, raising their hand into the air.

"Okaaaay!" Histoire cradled the tiny girl in her hands, swaying her arms left to right while humming a lullaby. Nepgear's tiny face turned serene and her tinier hands clutched onto her mother's shirt. The blonde haired woman watched her son get off the bed and wait for his best friend to get off before grabbing the clothes she had set out for him and running towards the bath.

"Come on, Blanc! Let's go!" Neptune dashed out of the door, his clothes bundled up into a ball in his hands. Meanwhile, Blanc was taking out her extra clothes from the bag that Mina had prepared for her.

"Neptune, wait!" The small girl chased after Histoire's son and left the mother and daughter to themselves.

* * *

Once they had entered the bath, Neptune hastily took of his clothes and grabbed a shower cap. The boy turned around to see Blanc struggling to pull her head through her shirt before walking inside.

"I'll go in first!"

"Alright." As Blanc was able take off her shirt, she noticed her mother's handwriting on the tag near the neck of the shirt. The girl frowned. Putting the tag close to her face, Blanc closed her eyes, imagining her mother's hands holding her tightly and lovingly.

"Blanc? Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" The shower nozzle could be heard running as Neptune sounded like he was gargling water.

"Bl-Bl-Blanc, help-p-p m-m-me!" A sweatdrop rolled down the worried girl's cheek as she listened to Neptune. Heading inside, Blanc saw a Neptune with shampoo in his hair, which was held up by a shower visor, and holding the shower nozzle with both hands, the water spraying onto his face.

"...What are you doing?" Blanc walked over to the water tap and turned off the water, causing the boy to sigh in relief. Neptune gasped and gave his friend a thumbs up.

"I was trying to turn it on but the water was super strong!" Blanc took the shower head from her best friend and held onto the water tap.

"I'll wash your head." Neptune grinned.

"Thank you!"

After Blanc washed the shampoo off of Neptune's head, he helped Blanc shampoo and wash her hair. The two then scrubbed each other's backs, like their mothers told them too, and sat down in the bath that Histoire had prepared for them. The bathtub was large. Adding the fact that there only two small children in the bath gave them plenty of room to relax in. However, both of them sat side by side, Neptune trying to rest his chin on the rim of the bathtub and Blanc staring at the steamy water.

"Neptune?" Giving up, Neptune reached for a small towel and placed on the crown of Blanc's head. "Do you think Mama's okay?" The girl sunk deeper into the water, blowing bubbles once her mouth was underwater.

"Hmm…" Neptune closed his eyes and sunk in as well. "I think…" Blanc could practically see the gears turning in Neptune's head.

"You think?"

"I think…" Slowly, Neptune started to turn red. The boy's eyes began to swirl as he slumped against the bathtub wall. "I think we should get out now."

"...Ah." Blanc's face began to turn red as well, slumping against bathtub as well, her towel falling into the water. "...Me too."

* * *

After getting out of the bath, Neptune and Blanc were getting dressed when Neptune suddenly stood and spun around, grabbing Blanc while her shirt was over her head.

"Blanc!" The girl, her eyes blinded by her shirt, turned to the left and then to the right. "What did Aunty Mina look like before the Man in White took her away?" Blanc's head popped out of the shirt collar and her head tilted to the right.

"Man in White?" The boy nodded.

"Yeah! The guy with the stephisoph-," Neptune closed his eyes, putting a finger to his tounge. "The ste-" "The ste-" "The st- The man who goes AAAAH." Blanc put a finger up in realization as Neptune turned away, covering his mouth.

"Mr. Doctor!" The boy looked back, tears in his eyes.

"Wut dith zhe luuk withe?" Blanc petted the crying boy as she thought about it.

"Mommy was super white! She looked SUPER sleepy. And her belly was SUPER DUPERLY GINORMUS!" The girl spread her arms out as she described her mother's condition.

"Super?"

"Duper Super Duper Super!" Neptune's eyes shined as Blanc tugged his shirt over his head.

"Mr. Pelicany!" Once again, the girl tilted her head.

"Mr… Peli...cany?" Neptune hopped up and down, his eyes brighter than before.

"Yes! Mr. Pelicany! Mama told me that if a boy or girl was super good, that Mr. Pelicany would swing in through a grapevine and hover over your mommy, sprinkle his Pelicany magic…" The boy took a pause, checking to see if Blanc was still paying attention. "Aaaaaand, his magic would grant you a baby brother or sister!" Blanc blinked. After a moment, Neptune poked Blanc in the cheek, finding amusement in the fact that she didn't respond and poke closer and closer to her mouth, where Blanc opened her mouth and entrapped his finger.

As Neptune cried out and tried to free his finger from Blanc's vicegrip, the girl began to think back to her mother's behavior.

She remembered that her mommy was buying clothes, despite her belly being huge and the clothes being too tiny for Blanc to wear. The time that her mommy worked with her and Neptune and Aunty Histy to clean out a room, where a couple of people came in with this big cans and for a while, she couldn't go in there. And finally, when her mommy was being taken away by Mr. Doctor's henchmen, Mina told Blanc that she wouldn't come home alone and to wait for her like a good girl.

Blanc opened her mouth, releasing Neptune from his prison. The boy shook his finger and wiped it against the girl's sweater, which she had put on earlier.

"Owwwwwie, Blanc. That hurt!" As Neptune comforted his finger, Histoire came in.

"Perfect, you two are done." Neptune's mother patted the two children on the head, Blanc closing her eyes while Neptune nuzzled his head into his mother's hands. "Come now, your Mama is here, Neptune." Immediately, Neptune's eyes shined and he ran out the door, his arms spread wide.

"MAAAAAMAAAA!" Seeing his mom take off her shoes, Neptune rushes towards Arfoire. As the boy jumps forward, Arfoire dropped her suitcase and caught her son, swinging him around in circles.

"Hey there, kid!" After spinning one more time, Arfoire pulled Neptune into a close hug. The little boy began to nuzzle his face into his mother's cheek. "How's my little pudding devourer?" The boy's smile grew wider and wider as she lifted Neptune into the air.

"I'm awesome, Mama!" Blanc walked out of the room to see Arfoire put Neptune down and see the woman's smile.

"Hey there, Little Blanc." The girl gave a small nod with a soft smile as Histoire came in, now holding Nepgear. "You ready?" Blanc tilted her head, raising an eyebrow.

"Where am I going?" A hand gently landed on Blanc's head, stroking her hair.

"Blanc, it's not 'I', it's 'we'." The girl looked to see Histoire smiling as she shifted Nepgear over to her shoulder. The baby girl grabbed a fistful of her mother's hair and began to play with it. Arfoire then picked up Neptune with one arm and Blanc with the other.

"Come on, let's go. We're burning daylight." Arfoire carried the two out of the house and into her black sports van while Histoire locked the house as Nepgear began to sleepily hug her mother's hair. Placing Neptune on the left side of the back seat and Blanc on the right side, Neptune's parents began to strap Nepgear into her car seat in the middle. Above the little Nep was a mobile with custom made dolls of Arfoire, Histoire and Neptune with their arms spread out. The real Neptune reached out and poked the Arfoire doll, causing the mobile to spin a little bit and play a soft tone. The combination of the dolls and the music made Nepgear squeal with joy as she reached out and barely tapped the mobile, making it spin again. Blanc and Neptune watched the baby girl repeat this over and over, not getting tired of it.

"Aunty Arfy?" The woman with long silver hair turned around from the driver's seat to face the brunette in the back. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to see your Mama." Suddenly, the girl's eyes widened and she looked from Histoire to Arfoire, who had big smiles on their faces, to Neptune, who had the same face as Blanc, and then to Nepgear, who stopped playing with the mobile and was looking around confused.

When the two children didn't say anything, Arfoire started the engine and left the driveway.

"I guess that was a good enough answer."

* * *

"Alright kids, we're here." Arfoire helped Neptune and Blanc out of the car while Histoire got Nepgear away from her mobile and out of her car seat. Neptune and Arfoire walked past the gray revolving doors and into the building. Blanc, on the other hand, looked up, becoming intimidated by the staggering height of the place that currently housed her mama. Staring at it more and more made the tiny girl feel tinier and tinier.

"Blanc?" The girl blinked her eyes and felt herself enveloped by Histoire's shadow. The woman was bent over, looking over Blanc with a worried face. Histoire's hand rested on Blanc's cheek while the other held onto Nepgear's stroller. "Come on, let's go inside and find your mother." Nodding, Blanc walked ahead past the revolving door. As she walked through one section of the door, she noticed Neptune was in the section across from her, pushing the door with all his might and his joy.

Arfoire waited at the other end of the door, watching Neptune with adoration. Histoire rolled her eyes at Arfoire's affection but smiled nonetheless.

"Alright, let's go. Neptune!" The boy pushed himself out of the door and rushed over to his mothers, grabbing onto Histoire's leg as Arfoire lifted Blanc onto her arm.

"Mommy, I wanna push Nep. Jr!" Histoire walked along as Neptune tagged along behind the stroller.

"When you're bigger, Neptune." Neptune cheered as a green haired woman approached the group with a blonde little girl in her arms.

"Ah, Arfy! Histy!" Putting the girl down, the woman wrapped her arms around Histoire, causing Neptune to back away in surprise. Turning to Arfoire, the woman's eyes landed on Blanc. The woman leaned forward, getting closer to the girl. Blanc reacted by pulling herself closer to Arfoire, hiding behind her head. "And who's this? I thought little Neptune was your child." Arfoire chuckled and pulled her head away, leaving Blanc without a hiding place.

"Chika, this is Blanc." The woman, Chika, made a wide grin, her eyes sparking.

"Blanc!? Oh look at you!" Chika clamped her hands around Blanc's face and kissed her forehead. "You're so big!" The tiny girl blinked her eyes as she was bombarded with praises and kisses.

Meanwhile, Neptune walked over to the blonde haired girl.

"Hi, Hi! I'm Neptune!" The blonde haired girl froze when Neptune was close to her. Tilting his head, Neptune attempted to poke her in the cheek. The girl yanked her face away from Neptune's finger and rushed over to Chika, causing the woman to pull away from Blanc, much to the brunette's relief.

"Oh, what's wrong my little angel?" The girl hugged her mother and Chika picked her up so that she could whisper into her ear. Arfoire put Blanc down, allowing Blanc to check up on Neptune. Chika nodded her head a couple of times, watching Blanc pat a tearful Neptune on the head and then poking him in the cheek. The action resulted in a hug from the crying purplette to the comforting brunette. "Okay, we can go home now." Chika turned to Arfoire and Histoire. "I'm sorry, I can't chat. This little one wants to go home." Arfoire grinned and patted Chika on the back.

"It's alright." Waving the two goodbye, Arfoire led the group into an elevator and pressed the button with the number three on it. The doors closed and elevator ascended, causing Blanc and Neptune to stagger for a second, catching each other in order to keep themselves from falling.

Once they were in the third floor, Arfoire led the group into a room with the number label three hundred and thirty three. Inside, lying on the bed and holding a light blue bundle in her arms was…

"Mama!" Blanc rushed over to the bed and tried to climb up it, but the barricade and Arfoire picking her up made it difficult. "Mama! Mama! MAMA!" Mina smiled and put a finger over the crying girl's mouth, which stopped her yelling.

"Shh… Blanc you'll wake up your new little sisters." Stopping in her tracks, Blanc noticed that the blue bundle had something within it. There was a creature within the baby blue blanket, a red face that cried silent noises. Blanc looked from the bundle to her mother, then back to the bundle.

"Huh?" Mina held out and arm and Arfoire carried Blanc onto the bed; the mother wrapping her free arm around her oldest daughter.

"Blanc, say hi to Rom." Blanc stared at the red face as an equally red hand reached out and grasped at the air. Slowly, cautiously and nervously, Blanc reached out a finger into the red grip of the now named Rom. When the two sisters made contact, Blanc could think of two things: wet. And most importantly, warm. "Ram is over there." Mina gestured to the pink bundle in a plastic crib beside her. Histoire gently picked up the bundle, which started to cry loudly, and brought her over to the Blanc and Mina, allowing the girl to meet an identical red face.

"Rom… and Ram?" Mina nodded. "My… sisters?" Another nod. "So… you're okay now?" A smile.

"Yes, I'm fine now Blanc." Tears began to fill the eldest Nishizawa's eyes as she pulled her finger away from her baby sister and hugged her mother.

"MAMA!" She then turned to the bundles, tears rolling down her face as she smiled. "Hello, Rom. Hello, Ram. I'm Blanc, your big sister!" The pink bundle stopped crying and the blue bundle put her arm down, but that didn't stop Blanc from leaning in and whispering into their tiny ears. "I'm gonna take good care of you, just you wait."

Neptune sat in Arfoire's lap, bounding up and down but restrained by his mother. Nepgear sat in her stroller, having fallen asleep when Chika appeared.

"You see? I told you Blanc! Mr. Pelicany is awesome! Right, Mama? Right?"

* * *

"And that's how my little sisters were born." Currently,Plutia had shifted herself onto Blanc's lap and she flipped to another page. "Come to think of it, that was when I first met my other mother and… hm?"

The picture Plutia flipped to showed Blanc and Neptune lying under a kotatsu, with a slightly older Nepgear lying on top of Neptune's back.

"Hey, it's the kotatsu that Daddy always puts out when it's cold!" Blanc nodded.

"Yeah, you're dad and I have plenty of memories with that thing." The brunette woman looked at the purple haired girl. "Wanna hear one?"

"I wanna! I wanna!" Plutia bounced up and down on Blanc's lap, but the girl was restrained by the woman's arm.

"Well, this picture was a more special memory. This was when…"

* * *

 _To be continued in…_

 _Memory 3: Kotatsu_


	4. Memory 3: Kotatsu

_Chapter 3: Kotatsu_

* * *

"Pwaha!" A seven year old Neptune popped his head from out of the covers as he laid his head on the cushion in front of him, closing his eyes lazily.

"Neptune, Mama said not to fall asleep or you're gonna get sick." Meanwhile, on the right side of the table sat a seven year old Blanc, leaning her head against the smooth wood as she flipped the page of this new chapter book that Aunty Arfoire got her.

"Don't worry, Blanc." The purple haired boy turned to his side and lifted his head off the cushion. "Hey Nep Jr., you okay over there?"

Off to the side of the heating table sat Neptune's four year old sister, Nepgear, poking her hand into a crib, where Blanc's identical twins sisters, Rom and Ram, were currently sitting in. The baby in blue with the word _Rom_ stitched on to the front of her pajamas reached out for Nepgear's hand while the baby in pink with _Ram_ stitched into her pajamas stared as her twins sister struggled and moved about. Neptune's little sister pulled her hand away from the twins, causing Rom to whine, and nodded.

"Mhm." Upon hearing the cries, Blanc stood up and walked over to the crib with Nepgear stepping aside and moving next to Neptune, crawling in and snuggling herself next to her brother. Feeling his little sister sidle up next to him, Neptune wrapped an arm around Nepgear, pulling her close.

"What's wrong, Rom?" Blanc leaned onto the crib, her voice catching the attention of the twins. Both Ram and Rom, who calmed down, began to twist themselves toward Blanc. The older sister smiled and lowered one of the crib's walls. Climbing into the crib, Blanc held onto Rom and Ram, the pink twin repeatedly patting her hand onto Blanc's knee while the blue twin cooed at her older sister. The eldest Nishizawa daughter placed a hand on the cooing child, humming a tune and stroking her hair while using the other one to play with Ram's energetic hand.

Eventually, the twins got tired from playing and returned to sleep, allowing Blanc to return to her place at the kotatsu. At the same time, Nepgear's stomach growled as Blanc sat down.

"Ah." Neptune watched his baby sister place her hands on her stomach and as her eyes locked onto her brother's face.

"Big Bro." Neptune poked Nepgear on the cheek and the little sister puffed out her other cheek. "I'm hungry." A couple of feet clad in white socks came into the Planeptune siblings' peripherals. The two looked up to see Mina with a basket in her hands.

"Dinner will be ready soon, but for now have some tangerines." At the sound of her favorite fruit's name, Blanc raised her head and her eyes locked onto the basket in her mother's hands.

"Tangerines…!" Blanc attempted to stand up, but tiny twin hands held her down. Mina placed the basket on the center of the table before leaving to work on dinner.

"Don't eat too much now." Neptune and Nepgear thanked Mina. The little Nep crawled over Neptune and onto his back, placing her chin on the crown of his head. Neptune pulled himself out of the kotatsu as Nepgear wrapped her arms around his neck. Looking at the basket, Neptune grabbed one of the smaller tangerines and peeled it open, having to stand up because of his small stature.

Meanwhile, Blanc bit the bottom her lip and looked at the twins surrounding her lap. Ram was now grabbing onto her skirt and Rom fell asleep on her lap.

"Nep Jr., say 'Ahhh'." Neptune pointed a slice of the fruit in front of her sister's mouth. Nepgear pulled her chin over Neptune's shoulder and wrapped her mouth around the tangerine slice. "Hey, you didn't say it…" Nepgear's puckered her lips and squeezed her eyes shut.

"...Sour…" Nepgear let go of her brother's neck and plopped onto the floor, scootching to his side. "...More." Nepgear reached out for the fruit and Neptune handed her the rest of the one he was eating and grabbed another tangerine. This one was a little bit bigger than the one he peeled earlier.

Taking a deep breath, Blanc picked up the sleeping Rom and awake Ram with both of her arms, struggling slowly to the kotatsu. As Blanc got to the table, Nepgear had finished her fruit and was pestering Neptune for another one. Neptune, smiling at his sister's eagerness, reached for a third tangerine. Right before his hand could wrap around the fruit, another hand snatched the tangerine from his grasp.

"Mine." Both of the Nep siblings turned their heads to see Blanc peeling the fruit and eating a quarter of the tangerine before squeezing her eyes shut. Neptune was sure that he could sparkles popping up around Blanc too. Nepgear blinked before tugging on her brother's arm once more.

"More please." The brother of the Nep siblings scratched his cheek and reached for another tangerine, only for Blanc to snatch this out of his hand as well. Eyes wide, Neptune frowns at the thief.

"Hey, Blanc! That's for Nep Jr.!" The boy looked back to see his little sister beginning to tear up. Blanc peeled the fruit as she grinned with her eyes closed.

"Survival of the fittest." Both Neptune and Nepgear tilted their heads, question marks floating above them. "If you don't fight, you can't get what you want." Both of the Nep siblings looked at each other.

"Big Bro…" A frown appeared on Nepgear's mouth. Neptune turned to his best friend, point a finger at her.

"Blanc! I will get that tangerine!" Neptune ducked under the kotatsu, leaving the girls to look on in confusion.

"Ah!" Blanc flinched as Neptune appeared on her side of the kotatsu, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her down onto the floor. Luckily, Rom and Ram were sitting on the table so they weren't crushed by the two. Ram plopped over onto her side, sucking her thumb while Rom crawled her way towards Nepgear.

"I gotcha~!" Neptune began to press his weight against his best friend, who was squirming under the pressure.

"H-Hey! That tickles, stop!" The boy began to nuzzle against Blanc, his hair tickling the girl's neck. Nepgear let Rom climb into her lap and plopped onto her side, Ram rolling up to them. A tiny yawn erupted from the smaller Planeptune, which transferred over to the twin Lowees.

"No! Not until you give Nep Jr. a tangerine!" Neptune pressed his fingers against Blanc's sides, dragging them back and forth across in a fast motion. The boy's captive tensed up at his touch, squirming around in order to escape.

"Na-! Stop….!" Eventually, Blanc was able to turn around grab Neptune's side, catching the boy by surprise. "Your…turn!" Neptune pressed his lips together, failing to hold back his laughter. Soon, Blanc literally turned the tables a little bit as she tried to get her revenge on Neptune.

"I… won't give up!"

"Just let it happen!" As Blanc and Neptune's battle began, Nepgear lied down, curling up under the kotatsu and wrapping her arms around Rom and Ram, who also fell asleep.

* * *

"Kids, dinner's ready!" Mina looked inside to see Blanc and Neptune, under the kotatsu, breathing heavily from exhaustion and laughter. The other three were still asleep, happily dreaming about whatever a toddler and babies dream about. Somehow, Nepgear had moved from her spot under the kotatsu and magnetized herself to her brother's back. Giggling, Mina reached for the camera, and taking a picture before gently patting Blanc on the cheek. "Blanc, you should take a bath before you eat."

"Okay." Blanc shifted to a sitting position as Neptune rolled around. Nepgear safely plopped onto a cushion as Neptune rolled back the other direction and onto his stomach.

"You should take a bath too, Neptune." The boy popped up to his knees, raising a hand into the air.

"Okay~!" Mina watched the two children helped each other up and run towards the bathroom.

"Hey, Blanc?"  
"What?"

"Why were we tickling each other so much?"

"...I don't remember…"

"Ah, me too." Mina shook her head before picking up Rom and taking her to her cradle, doing the same to Ram.

"Nepgear… dinner's ready." The smaller Planeptune rubbed her eyes before being helped up by Mina. Tucking the camera into her apron, Mina picked up Nepgear and headed over to the dining room.

* * *

"Aunty Blanny?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I have a tangerine?" Blanc shook her head as she stood up.

" _The story influenced her hunger…"_ Grabbing a nice small tangerine, Blanc peeled the fruit as she returned to the couch. "Here you go." Breaking off a piece of the citrus fruit, Blanc held the piece in front of Plutia's mouth, allowing the girl to bite onto the fruit. As Plutia happily chewed on her piece, Blanc tore a quarter of the fruit off and popped it into her mouth. " _...Sweet. Neptune must've bought these. He has the tendency to always buy sweet versions of things… Somehow."_ Plutia flipped to another picture, revealing Blanc and Neptune with their elementary school backpacks on. Blanc was holding an inflatable hammer the size of two Blancs while Neptune gave the peace sign. Plutia's dad was a little dirtied up, but he was still smiling wide.

"Aunty, what's this?" Blanc raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, this one? Man, that brings back memories…" Blanc hand-fed Plutia another piece of tangerine. "This was when…"

* * *

 _To be continued in…_

 _Memory 4: Brave_


	5. Memory 4: Brave

_**Memory 4: Brave**_ _ **(Age 8)**_

* * *

" _Blanc, catch!" A red rubber ball was thrown into the air, landing on the ground and bouncing higher into the air. As the ball approached the girl, Blanc yawned and covered her mouth. "Ah, Blanc!" The ball landed onto top of Blanc's hat, surprising the girl and causing her to fall onto the ground. The perpetrator bounced off of Blanc and rolled away. "Blanc, are you okay!?" Neptune ran over to his friend, worried. Blanc was lying, arms eagle spread. The girl blinked as she sat up, realizing her hat wasn't on her head._

" _I'm okay." Blanc found her hat a little ways away from her. Neptune approached Blanc as she got onto her knees and crawled over to her hat. Picking up and putting her hat on, Blanc stood up time to catch Neptune's glomp._

" _Blanc, I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" Neptune pressed his face against Blanc's rubbing her cheek with his own. After being with Neptune for most of her life, the girl was able to tolerate Neptune's tendency to pop people's personal bubble and stood there with a blank expression on her face. Blanc patted the boy on the head, causing the boy giggle in satisfaction._

" _It's fine." Neptune pulled away and pointed to the ball as it rolled further and further away._

" _Ah! I'll go get the ball~." Neptune ran past Blanc as the girl patted her clothes and straightened her clothes._

" _Okay." Noticing that her hat was caved in, Blanc took it off and shook it, poofing it back up. As she put it back on, Blanc noticed that her shoe was untied. The girl crouched, reaching for the untied laces._

" _Nepu!"_

" _What is that? Listen to him! He's weird!" Blanc turned around as soon as she heard her friend use the first half of his name as a sound effect, which he had been doing often lately._

" _I'm not weird! I'm- Nepu!?" Neptune was lying on the ground as a kid, two grades higher than them, pushed his foot against Neptune's back. With their ball in his hand, the bully leaned closer to Neptune, smirking._

" _He did again!" The boys around him began to laugh as the bully dropped ball onto Neptune's head._

" _Owie!" The ball bounced up back into his hands and the bully repeated this process over and over again, while Neptune cried and begged him to stop. The kids around the bully crowded around him, keeping his actions out of sight to the teachers. Narrowing her eyes, Blanc frowned at the bullies and walked towards them._

" _Oi." The bully stopped laughing at Neptune and glared at Blanc. Since there were people surrounding them and Neptune was pinned down, Blanc was intimidated, but she kept her cool and crossed her arms. "Gimme back my friend and our ball." The bully smirked and tossed the ball into the air, letting it hit Neptune on the head._

" _Ne-" The bully pressed his foot against Neptune's head, silencing him._

" _Shut it."_

" _Hey!" Blanc stepped forward, only for a red ball to hit her square in the face. The girl fell onto her back as two of the bully's friends grabbed her arms, lifting her into the air. "Let me go!" The bully grinned at his friends._

" _Take her to the Pit." The two bullies dragged Blanc away as Neptune reached out for his friend._

" _Blanc!"_

* * *

 _The bully's lackies dragged her to the sand pit, tossing her at it._

" _Leave Blanc alone!"As the girl tried to get up, the lackies picked up buckets of sand, dumping it on her and dropping the buckets on her head, running back to their leader. Lying semi-buried in sand, Blanc struggled to get herself free._

" _Shut it, weirdo!"_

" _I am not- Nepu!" More laughter gave the girl the motivation to move her arm and her best friends cries only strengthened it. Once her arm was free, Blanc dug her hand into the sand in front of her in order to pull herself out. Blanc repeated to pull herself out until her other arm was free._

" _Leave. My friend." Once she was able to pull her torso out of the heavy sand, Blanc's hand brushed against something. Gripping onto it, Blanc felt the material squish around her finger, yet the material was strong enough to let her keep a firm grip on it. "Huh?" With the mystery object, Blanc pulled herself free of the from her trap. Digging around the object, Blanc found a light blue handle sticking out of the sand. "What is…" Blanc wrapped both her hands around the handle and pulled with all her might, only for her to lose her grip and land on her rear._

" _Blanc's gonna kick your butts! Just wat- OW1" Whipping her head around, Blanc glared at the group of people that were torturing her friend. Grabbing the handle once more, Blanc pressed her feet into the sand, taking a deep breath. Screaming at the top of her lungs, Blanc used all of her strength to pull the object out of the sand._

 _Falling on her rear again, Blanc looked at the object that she unearthed. It was an inflatable hammer, one with a blue handle, a yellow body and a red head. Standing up, Blanc used both hands to raise the hammer into the air. A bird that was pecking the bench next to her rose its wings and flew into the air, towards the sun._

* * *

" _Hahaha, this kid is so weird!" The bully bounced the ball on top of Neptune's head, who bit his lip in order to keep his tears from flowing uncontrollably._

" _...I-I said… I'm…" Blanc's foot lands in Neptune's peripheral vision. "Bl-Blanc?"_

" _Oi, leave my friend alone." Blanc lifted the hammer over shoulder, surprising most of the lackies._

" _Wa-Wait… that's…!?"_

" _That's the legendary…"_

" _Meganair!" The bully stepped off of Neptune, but didn't back away._

" _Oh yeah… what are you gonna do, pipsqueak?" Growling, Blanc raised Meganair into the air, twisting her body._

" _Taaaake this!" Blanc spun in circles, slowly gaining momentum and moving towards them. Terrified, the bully backed away._

" _Sh-She's able to wield Meganair!?" As Blanc moved closer and closer, the bullies backed away, catching the teacher's attention._

" _Hey, what are you doing!?" The bullies ran away from the area, spreading apart as Neptune stood to smile at Blanc._

" _Blanc, you're awe-" Blanc wasn't able to stop herself and hit Neptune at the back of the head, knocking him back to the ground._

* * *

" _Neptune, are you okay?" Neptune pressed his cheek against Blanc's, smiling happily._

" _Mhm!" In Neptune's hands was the red rubber ball that the bullies had stolen from him. When the teacher got to Neptune and Blanc, they explained the situation and Blanc had to hand over Meganair. Now the two were sitting on a bench, resting from the situation. Both of them were covered in bandages. "Ne, Blanc you were so super duper awesome!" Blanc glanced at her friend, who kept his smile. Blanc dropped her head onto Neptune's shoulder, eyes heavy._

" _Neptune…"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _I'm sleepy." Grinning, Neptune tossed the ball, letting it bounce across the playground and allowing Blanc to drop onto his lap._

" _Goodnight!"_

* * *

Blanc finished the tangerine as Plutia tilted her head in confusion.

"Aunty Blanc?"

"What's up, kid?" Plutia pointed at the hammer.

"What happened to the Meganir?" Chuckling at the girl's pronunciation, Blanc patted the girl on the head.

"The teacher gave us the hammer after we explained everything to her. Needless to say, my mom wasn't happy to see us all scruffed up like that. Plutia made a sound of understanding before flipping the page.

"Ah! It's Gramma Arfy~!" Plutia pointed at a picture of Neptune and Arfoire. Arfoire was holding her son tightly while Neptune's eyes were red. "Huh? Why does Daddy look sad?" Blanc frowned. Scratching her head, Blanc picked up Plutia and plopped her onto her lap.

"Well, kid. Not every memory is a happy one in this album. This one is a sad memory." Plutia looked like there a scared puppy in front of her, and Blanc leaned her chin onto Plutia's head. "But you deserve to know about this, so this picture was taken when…"

* * *

 _ **To be continued in…**_

 _ **Memory 5: Expectations**_


	6. Memory 5: Expectations

_**Memory 5: Expectations**_ _ **(Age 9)**_

* * *

" _Blanc, be careful!" Blanc pushed her sisters' stroller out of the door, Mina waving at the door. "Make sure that Rom or Ram doesn't get in trouble."_

" _Okaaaay."_

" _And make sure that you eat properly when you go to Neptune's house."_

" _Okaaay, bye Momma!" Mina cupped her daughter's cheeks in her hands and kissed her on the forehead._

" _Take care now." Mina watched daughter push her sisters across the yard to the gate and leave the Nishizawa household. Blanc would turn to the left and walked towards the house next to hers. As she did so, Ram was happily chewing on her mushyrom teething ring and her twin sister swung around a toy stylus rod, which coupled as a rattle. Blanc giggled as she watched her sisters enjoy themselves. As soon as she was close to the gate, Histoire opened the door and walked over to the gate, smiling at Blanc and her sisters._

" _Hello, Blanc."_

" _Hi, Aunty Histy." Histoire crouched to coo at Rom and Ram, the former shaking her rattle at the woman while Ram's teething ring popped out of her mouth as she tried to say hi._

" _Come in, Neptune's in his room." Nodding, Blanc took Histoire's offer to allow her to watch over the twins and the girl walked up the stairs to Neptune's room._

* * *

 _When Blanc reached the second floor, Blanc heard music coming from Neptune's room. However, it didn't sound like the music coming from Neptune's Casty Dream System, but it sounded like someone singing a song. Curious, Blanc began to tiptoe to the door and slowly open the door._

" _Hey, Neptune…" Peeking her head inside, Blanc found Neptune inside his room, just like his mother described. Neptune was spinning around posing around like an idol, a female one, alongside humming the song coming from his phone, which he was using like a microphone._

" _The reason we were born on this earth…" Neptune spun around, pointed out the window. "...was not to be manipulated by fate…" Blanc covered her mouth, her eyes narrowing in interest. " Neptune spun around facing Blanc with his eye closed. "Embrace me…" Neptune extended his arms out, a warm inviting smile on his face. "...for I want to protect…" The boy clasped his hands together and put them close to his heart. "...your irreplaceable heaaaaart." Neptune spread his arms out in a slow, eagle-like fashion._

" _Nice." Blanc clapped, knocking Neptune out of his fantasy. The boy bowed and rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks dusted a light red._

" _Thank you~!" Neptune ran over to Blanc and hugged her. The boy turned off the music on his phone and grinned from ear to ear. "Hey, hey Blanc. Guess what?" Blanc tilted her head to the side, blinking her eyes as her hat slid down her head for a bit. Neptune pointed a finger at the ceiling, eyes squeezed shut. "I'm gonna be an idol!"_

" _Eh?" Neptune faced his blank-faced friend._

" _You see, you see, Mommy works as an Idol Mamajer." Blanc blinked her eyes as Neptune waved his arms as if he was flying. "So,if I become an idol, I can take care of Mommy for Mother!" The girl let out a sound of understanding before Neptune grabs Blanc's hands. "Come on Blanc, practice with me!" Blanc sweatdropped as Neptune pulled her into his room._

" _Can we just play some games?" Neptune froze in place, his face suddenly blanking out. Blanc could swear that she could see the gears in Neptune's head spin as he thought. Neptune grin turned into a carefree smile as the boy nodded._

" _Okay~!" Neptune ran over to his Casty Dream, turning it on. "What should we play?" Blanc shrugged and sat down next to her childhood friend._

" _I don't know." The two children poked around until they could find a game that they could play together._

* * *

 _After half an hour of playing Zanik the Ledgejog 3, Neptune perked up as he heard Arfoire downstairs._

" _Mommy!" Neptune dropped his controller and ran out of the room, leaving Blanc behind._

" _Neptune, wait!" The child looked towards his friend before pausing the game, chasing after Neptune. As the girl went down the stairs, she could see Neptune already at the last step. The boy ran down the hallway as Arfoire, wearing a business suit, removing her suit._

" _Mooooommmmmmy!" Neptune pounced at his mother, causing Arfoire to drop her suitcase and lift her son high into the air._

" _Neptune! How's my little eggplant?" Neptune pretended to throw up as Arfoire laughed, hugging her son tightly. Blanc eventually caught up to Neptune and waved to Arfoire. "Ah, Blanc. Hello there." Neptune's mommy patted Blanc on the hat with just enough force for the girl to feel the pat through her hat._

" _Hi, Aunty Arfy." Neptune let go of his hug and raised his arms into the air._

" _Mommy, Mommy! Guess what?" Arfoire put a finger to her mouth before reaching into her pocket._

" _Befooore thaaaat…" Arfoire pulled an object out of her pocket. "Ta-daaaa!" Neptune's eyes sparkled like stars, reaching out for the object._

" _Pudding!" Handing over the sweet treat to her son, Neptune hugged his mother tighter. Noticing that Blanc was just standing there, staring, Arfoire held a hand out to the girl._

" _Come on, child. Let's see if Aunty Histy has any tangerines." Blanc reached out for and grabbed onto Arfoire's hands, allowing her to lead her to the kitchen. "Neptune, what were you talking about again?" Neptune grinned as he ate a spoonful of pudding._

" _Mommy, I wanna be an idol!" Arfoire stopped for a second, confusion on her face._

" _Huh?" Neptune rubbed his cheek against his mommy's._

" _Idol! Mommy, an idol!" Shaking her head, Arfoire carried Neptune over to the couch, placing him on the center cushion. Blanc struggled to climb onto the right cushion and Afroire helped her up. After that, she walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a nice big tangerine and handed it Blanc._

 _Arfoire kneeled in front of her son, scratching her head._

" _How can I say this…" Neptune kept the plastic spoon in his mouth, cheerfully swinging his legs back and forth. "Neptune, honey, I work in as an idol manager."_

" _Mamajer." Arfoire chuckled._

" _Yes, that's right. But at the moment, people aren't really looking for boy idols. They would shun them instead." Neptune blinked._

" _Mommy?"_

" _That means that if you tried to become an idol, people would get mad at you." Histoire walked in, Ram in her arms. Placing the girl back into her seat with her sister, who fell asleep, Histoire walked over and sat down next to Neptune. Meanwhile, Blanc had just finished peeling her tangerine and was beginning to remove the white stuff that she didn't like._

" _Bu-But, how will Mommy handle it without me or Mother!?" Arfoire patted her son's head, smiling._

" _It's sweet of you to want to help Mommy, but this is Mommy's job and she's used to it okay?" Pouting, Neptune clung onto his mommy's arm and pulled himself close. "Now Neptune, you're a big boy right?" Neptune shook his head._

" _I wanna be with Mommy!" The boy pressed his head against his mommy's arm, his tears staining his mother's suit. Sighing, Arfoire skillfully wrapped Neptune into letting go and pulling him into another hug. "Besides, who's gonna watch over Momma Histy- while I'm gone?" Neptune looked up at his mommy as Histoire wiped his tears away._

" _That's right, Neptune. You're the man of the house, and do you wanna leave me, Nepgear and Blanc here?" At the sound of her name, Blanc looked over, a piece of her favorite fruit in her mouth. "Oh, not you Blanc." Nodding, the girl returned to eating her snack._

" _Re-Really?" Both of his parents nodded and Neptune's smile returned. Neptune reached out to his parents, pulling them into his loving embrace. "Mommy, Mother, I love you!" Both of Neptune's mothers laughed as Neptune nuzzled them. Blanc, on the other hand, was just finishing her tangerine and hopping off the couch._

" _Neptune, let's play." The boy nodded and pulled himself out of his parent's grasp._

" _Let's get Nep Jr. too!" Histoire giggled at her son's nickname for his baby sister. Neptune grabbed Blanc by her coat sleeve and pulled her upstairs. As Blanc climbed up the stairs, she could see Histoire and Arfoire whispering to each other, glancing up at them as they moved out of sight. "Come on, Blanc!" Shaking her head, Blanc followed Neptune and his plot to recruit the younger Planeptune into their game time._

 _"Okay."_

* * *

"And that's when Neptune learned what it meant to not be accepted by an industry." Plutia tilted her head and Blanc swore she could see Neptune's face.

"Indister?" Chuckling, Blanc pulled Plutia into a hug.

"Close enough." Plutia began to look at the picture more as Blanc sunk into deep thought. Now that she thought of it, that conversation between Arfoire and Histoire probably had something to do about what happened when they were ten years old, one year after Neptune learned the harshness of expectations. Come to think of it, Blanc had no idea how this picture was taken, especially since Neptune wasn't even looking at the camera, nor Arfoire. The woman knew that she was mindlessly eating beside them so that means that His-

"Ah, Aunty Blanny! Daddy looks sad again!" Snapping out of her thoughts, Blanc frowned at the picture Plutia found. It was a picture of Neptune, Arfoire and Nepgear. This time Neptune and Nepgear were crying openly as Arfoire held her children close to her. Next to them was Arfoire's luggage.

"Sorry. Plutia. This is another sad memory…" Now Plutia was visibly saddened by Blancs words. "This one took place one year after the picture I talked about a while ago…"

* * *

 _ **To be continued in…**_

 _ **Memory 6: Changes**_


	7. Memory 6: Changes

_**Memory 6: Changes**_ _ **(Age 10)**_

* * *

" _And then the Great Goddess in the sky dropped tons and tons of candy from the sky!" Blanc flipped the page as Rom and Ram, both of whom were sitting in her older sister's lap, tried to grab for the candy. "And everyone lived happily ever after. The End." Rom and Ram clapped as their older sister closed the book. Ram grabbed onto Blanc's shirt, pulling her face close._

" _Seshtah, Seshtah! Again, again!" Rom bounced in her seat, agreeing with her twin. Blanc giggled as she hugged her sisters._

" _Okay, okay. Let's see which book will-"_

" _Blaaaaanc!" Surprised, Blanc held her little sisters protectively, who interpreted her hug as loving one and hugged her back, pressing their faces against Blanc's body. Neptune ran into the room, Nepgear piggybacking her older brother._

" _Neptune, your shoes!" Mina's voice came from the kitchen, prompting the boy stop in his tracks._

" _Ah, sorry!" Neptune backpedaled out of the room as Nepgear mimicked the sound of a car backing up. "Nep Jr., you too!"_

" _Okay, Big Brother." Neptune returned to the room, his little sister had climbed off his back and walked in, holding his hand._

" _Hi, Neptu-" All of a sudden, both Neptune and Nepgear began crying and dove at Blanc. Her older sister instincts kicking in again, Blanc grabbed her sisters and scooted away, leaving the Planeptune siblings to land on the cushion Blanc was sitting on. There was a few moments of muffled silence as the two siblings lay face down and cried into the cushion, while Blanc breathed heavily as her hat fell off her head. Rom and Ram were more concerned about their sister's hat instead of the situation before them._

" _Seshtah!"_

" _Hat! ...Hat!" Both the Planeptune siblings looked up, realizing they hadn't latched onto a kid-sized or medium-sized Nishizawa. Neptune pouted as Nepgear's eyes filled with tears, but then the elder brother began to do the same. The two siblings latched into each other and cried._

 _The crying affected Blanc's sisters as well, causing Rom to sniffle and Ram to well up. Noticing the influence on her sisters, Blanc picked up Neptune, dislodged him from his sister, prompting the girl to cry harder, and dragged him out of the room by his feet. Just before leaving the room, Blanc turned to the twins, who had already calmed down and were playing with Blanc's hat._

" _Rom! Ram! Play with Nepgear, okay?" The twins nodded and crawled, they could walk but only did so if Mina or Blanc held their hands, over to Nepgear and promptly laid on top of her, distracting the girl from her tears._

 _Eventually getting Neptune to his feet, Blanc took him into her room, handing him some tissues._

" _Thank you, Bla-." Blanc pressed a tissue against his face._

" _Blow." Once his nose was clean, Neptune lay down on Blanc's bed, staring at the ceiling. "What's wrong?" Neptune's bottom lip quivered._

" _Mommy's going awaaaaaaay!" Neptune sat up and grasped his knees as Blanc patted him on the back._

" _Why?" Despite Blanc's prodding, all Neptune's answers came in the form of mumbling and sobs. Taking a deep breath, Blanc pit on her coat, dramatically of course. Grabbing Neptune, Blanc ran back into the living room, where Rom and Ram were playing House with Nepgear. "Momma, we're going to Neptune's house to play!" Mina peeked into the room, holding a ladle._

" _Alright, well tell Histoire and Arfoire to come eat here for dinner."_

" _Okay!" Blanc picked up her hat, which was sitting behind Nepgear._

" _Seshtah!" Ram reached out for her big sister, who kissed her on the forehead. Neptune hugged Nepgear as Blanc told her to watch the twins for her. Rom gripped her sister's coat, wanting to be hugged._

 _Once the twins had been appeased, Blanc and Neptune went to the front door, putting on their shoes._

" _We're heading out!"_

" _Be safe!"_

* * *

 _Once Blanc and Neptune reached the boy's house, they ran around the back and into the backyard, where Histoire had a flower garden in the top right portion of the yard, where bushes bordered the top and right sides of the garden. The children spotted Arfoire in the living room, in plain view of the glass door that led to the backyard, sipping coffee as she read the newspaper. Hiding in the bushes, Blanc popped her head out, her hat covered in leaves, acting as a disguise. Neptune, with broken branch and bush bunches tangled in his hair, would popin and out of the bush methodically to add more leaves to Blanc's disguise._

" _Neptune, why would Aunty Arfy want to leave?" When the girl looked to the side, she found Neptune staring at the sky, his eyes empty. A butterfly fluttered over to the boy and landed on his nose, yet he did not budge._

* * *

 _As Blanc watched his friend stare into space, what they didn't know was that Arfoire had already spotted them, catching Neptune acting like a mole out of the corner of her eye._

 _Raising an eyebrow, Arfoire pretended to bot notice them as Blanc stared right at her with scrutinizing eyes._

" _Histoire."_

" _What is it?" Histoire had just walked in, carrying some tea and cookies that Mina had baked the other day._

" _I'll be right back. Pretend to be upset." Histoire raised an eyebrow until her wife slightly shifted her head to the left, her right._

" _The backyard?" When Histoire looked outside, she barely caught Blanc diving inside a bush, eventually grabbing Neptune and pulling him inside too. The butterfly fluttered away as well. "Ah…" As Arfoire left, Histoire wondered if her flowers were alright._

* * *

" _She's gone!?" Blanc was surprised as she only had Histoire to observe, but what she discovered was her lead. Histoire was sitting arms crossed, her face contorted in sadness. "This is…" Blanc looked towards Neptune, who's face was poking out of the bush. "Could Aunty Arfy…" Blanc put a hand under her chin, pretending to be a detective in that soap opera her mother always watches. "Be having an afar!?"_

" _Who's having an affair?" Arfoire crouched next to Blanc waving to Histore, whi giggled and waved back._

" _You are, Aun-" Blanc froze as she just realized who was next to her. "Ah…" Arfoire smirked, poking Blanc on the nose._

" _Gotcha~." Before Arfoire could pry, Neptune burst out of the bush, scrambling into his mommy's arms._

" _Mommy, please don't go! Please, I'll be a good boy!" Neptune buried his face into his mommy's chest as Arfoire stroked his head while removing the branches and bunches._

" _Neptune…" Neptune gripped his mommy harder._

" _I'll eat my egg...plants," The boy shivered, as the trauma of food poisoning years ago still haunted him. "I'll won't ask for games, anymore! I'll study super hard!" Arfoire looked at her son, caressing his face._

" _Neptune, my child…"_

" _Please don't leave us!" Tears forming in her eyes, Arfoire shook her head and held Neptune close._

" _I'm sorry, Neptune. But my job as a manager demands that I have to travel abroad in order to search for and train new idols." Blanc blinked._

" _Eh? So it wasn't…" Shaking her head, Blanc took off her hat and shook off the leaves._

" _Wasn't what?" Blanc looked away, ashamed at pointing a finger at her aunt._

" _N-Nothing." Neptune grabbed his mommy by the collar now, pulling his head up to her shoulders._

" _No, why do the idols have to take you! Idols are evil!" Neptune pulled away from his mother runs back into the house, jumping into his mother's arms. Blanc reached for his friend but Arfoire planted a hand on her head._

" _Blanc, thank you."_

" _Eh?" Arfoire looked at the girl and smiled, fighting back the tears._

" _I was worried how Neptune would deal with this, since he's so young, but I don't have to worry if you're with him."_

" _Ye-Yeah…" Arfoire lifted Blanc out of the bushes and into her arms._

" _Please, look after him for me." As Blanc and Arfoire headed back inside, Mina and the rest of the children were there waiting for them. Nepgear jumped into her mommy's arms, attempting the same thing that Neptune did. Soon enough, botb of the Planeptune children had calmed down, asking for a picture with their mommy. As Mina got everyone ready to take the picture, Histoire pulled Blanc aside, tearfully asking her if she wanted to help set up the dinner table. Upon seeing that face, Blanc couldn't say no._

* * *

"A month after that, your Grandma Arfy had to leave in search of idols and making units." Plutia leaned against her aunt, sighing in relief. "Heh… you've always been a sleepy head."

"Don't worry Daddy… Plutia won't… leave." Blanc shook her head, letting the girl lie on the couch as she pulled out a futon. Shoving aside the coffee table, Blanc set up the futon and pulled the covers over her niece. Once Plutia looked comfortable, Blanc climbed into the futon with her, letting Plutia use her hat as a pillow. Grabbing the album, Blanc flipped through the album again. Upon finding a certain picture, Blanc smiled.

The picture was when Neptune was in the hospital to heal from a broken leg and arm. However, Neptune was smiling. Next to him was Blanc, and two new friends. Despite these two causing Neptune's situation in the picture, Blanc never would have imagined that they would have been such close friends. Beside Blanc and Neptune, were two girls, one had long brunette hair and the other had long peach hair, they were both wearing the same uniform that Blanc wore. These two, Blanc and Neptune's best friends... were named IF and Compa.

* * *

 _ **To be continued in…**_

 _ **Memory 7: Boned by Friends**_


	8. Memory 7: Boned By Friends

_**Memory 7: Boned by Friends**_ _ **(Age 11)**_

* * *

" _Hey, Neptune." Blanc and Neptune were walking home. Despite Arfoire leaving about a year ago, the boy still missed his mommy. "Neptune." Neptune stopped walking and looked to the sky, as the sound of a plane's engine roared through the sky. Blanc narrowed her eyes as Neptune sighed. "Hey!"_

" _..." Blanc raised her leg backwards swung towards the back of Neptune's leg. "Gah! Rubbing his leg, Neptune pouted at Blanc. "Ow! That was mean, Blanc." Exhaling loudly, Blanc pointed towards the park that they used to play at lot when they were younger._

" _Let's walk through here before we go home." Neptune raised an eyebrow._

" _But that's the long way home…" Blanc grabbed Neptune by the arm._

" _Just come on."_

" _O-Okay…" Once they had reached the park, Neptune glanced around, beginning to smile. "Hehe, we had some fun times when we were younger." Blanc patted him on the back._

" _We're not old yet." A grin found it's way to Neptune's mouth, something that Blanc missed seeing. The two ran towards the slide. Blanc climbed up the slide and ran down the stairs while Neptune ran to the side, pulling himself up the slide and climbing up the rest of the slide. Once he was at the top, Neptune jumped off the top of the slide and rolled as soon as he landed on the ground. Blanc slowly clapped as Neptune halted his momentum by flipping backwards._

" _Nailed it." Neptune spun around and made a fist pump._

" _So you're still doing that parking thing." Neptune gave Blanc the peace sign._

" _It's called parkour!" Taking his blazer off, Neptune fanned himself with his shirt. "Thanks, Blanc. This is fun." Blanc gave the boy a thumbs up before pulling out her phone. "What's that?"_

" _Just making sure that Rom and Ram are home safely." Neptune crossed his arms._

" _H-How?" Blanc showed him the screen, it showed a map with two blips on it._

" _Gps."_

" _Wh-" Blanc held a hand._

" _No questions."_

" _Okay…?" Blanc sighed in relief and put her phone away._

' _They're home." Neptune furrowed his eyebrows._

" _Couldn't you just call them?"_

" _No phone."_

" _Oh."_

" _Iffy, be careful!" The two turned around at the sound of the new voice. Neptune and Blanc see a girl with short peach hair standing by the swing set._

" _I'll be fine, Compa. I'm the Windwalker!" There was long brown-haired girl standing at the top of set, balancing on it. Neptune and Blanc run over to the peach-haired girl, staring at the brown-haired girl, dubbing herself the Windwalker._

" _Oh that's right," Blanc turned to Neptune as the boy continues to watch the Windwalker walk along the swing set. "Why did you learn park-court, again?" Neptune narrowed his eyes._

" _You did that on purpose." Blanc shrugged._

" _Maybe." Neptune scratched his cheek as the peach-haired girl balled her hands, worried about her companion._

" _Well, I learned parkour because I wanted to see…" Neptune rubbed the back of his head. "If Mommy would come back home if I got hurt." The peach haired girl looked at the boy curiously while Blanc patted the boy on the back._

" _Hurt? In what way?" Neptune shifted his attention to the other girl._

" _Well, like breaking an arm or a leg, something lik-"_

" _AH!" All three children at the ground looked up to see the Windwalker, waving her arms while tip-toeing on one foot._

" _Iffy!" Blanc was stumbled as a bag hit her on the chest. Noticing the pudding keychain on the bag's strap, Blanc looks ahead to see Neptune running towards the girl._

" _Neptune!" Neptune hopped onto one of the swings, the momentum raising him higher into the air. Jumping off the swing, Neptune grips onto the bar at the top of the swing set, pulling himself up. The boy rushed over to the girl as she began to slip, grabbing her hand. As the Windwalker fell off the swing set, Neptune attempted to keep them up by hooking his foot on the bar, but the combined weight of both him and girl caused his ankle to snap, forcing them to fall. In an effort to protect the girl, Neptune pulled the girl close and stuck his arm out because of instinct._

 _*Thud*_

" _Argh!" Blanc dropped her bag and Neptune's while the peach-haired girl ran towards the two._

" _Iffy!"_

" _Neptune!"_

* * *

" _Thank you for coming to take Neptune's work to him." Blanc was standing in front of her and Neptune's homeroom teacher, Ms. Manual. The green haired teacher loved to answer questions for students and prioritized her students' health over all. "Please, let him take his time and did you know that if you gave him a Healing Grass, it would speed up his recovery?" Blanc nodded as she took the papers from her teacher._

" _Yes, but Neptune dislikes his vegetables." Ms. Manual nodded and bowed to the girl._

" _Please be safe on your way home, Nishizawa." Blanc bowed before bidding her teacher goodbye. The girl walked out of the teacher's lounge before stuffing Neptune's papers into her bag._

" _Blanc!" Blinking her eyes, Blanc turned around to see the peach-haired girl and the brunette from the swing set. "Are you going to see Nep-Nep?" Blanc tilted her head to the side as she stared at the peach-haired girl._

" _Who?" The brunette crossed her arms._

" _Neptune Planeptune. Are you going to visit him?" Blanc now looked at the brunette, nodding her head and glancing at her bag._

" _Yeah, I need to hand him his work." The peach-haired clasped her hands together._

" _Okie dokie, then let's go!" The girl thrusted an arm into the air, grabbing Blanc's hand and pulling her down the hall._

" _Wh-Wait." The brunette walked beside Blanc, pulling out a cell phone. "Who are you?" Not looking up from her phone, the brunette's finger glided across her phone effortlessly._

" _The name's IF." Blanc blinked._

" _The Windwalker?" IF blushed a deep red before handing her phone to Blanc._

" _Ne-Nevermind that, just put your contact info in here, also Nep's too if you have it?" Staring at the girl with her signature dull look, Blanc hesitantly took the girl's phone._

" _Blanc, Blanc Nishizawa." The peach-haired girl spun around and hugged Blanc, surprising the quieter girl._

" _And I'm Compa!" Blanc's eye twitched as Compa began to nuzzle her. IF shrugged as she took her phone._

" _Sorry, Compa's always been like that." Blanc looked at IF, then to Compa._

" _...Alright then."_

* * *

 _Blanc, IF and Compa enter the hospital and up to the third floor, where Neptune's room was. Upon stepping off the elevator, Blanc and her companions turned into the hallway that led to her best friend's room. As the three entered the hallway, Histoire and Nepgear walked out of the room, both of them looking concerned._

" _Aunty Histy." Histoire smiled upon seeing Blanc and Nepgear ran over to Blanc, hugging her._

" _Big sister Blanc! Hi!" Blanc patted Nepgear on the back._

" _Nepgear." Histoire walks over to the girl, reaching into the paper bag she had on her._

" _Hi, Blanc. How was class?" Blanc nodded as Nepgear let go of the girl, staring at IF and Compa curiously._

" _It was fine." Histoire pulled a tangerine out of the bag, causing Blanc to divert all of her attention to the fruit._

" _I'd knew you'd like it. Nepgear and I went to the grocery store after I picked her up from school." As she handed the girl the tangerine, Histoire looked at IF and Compa. "Oh, I'm afraid I haven't met you two yet, who are you?" Compa waved at Histoire, who repeated the same to her._

" _I'm Compa!" IF smirked, confident since Compa introduced herself first._

" _And I'm IF, the Windwalker." Nepgear and Histoire looked at her, confused._

" _...Windwalker?" Blushing a bright red, IF shook her head, attempting to get the two to forget that she had said that. Compa hugged Blanc, pressing her face against the girl and giving the eldest daughter of the Nishizawa family deja vu._

" _We're friends!"_

" _Friends? Neptune hasn't talked about any new friends lately." Compa shook her head._

" _We just became friends." Histoire sweatdropped. IF sighed._

" _Well… what happened was…" IF explained the situation to Histoire, who nodded her head and took in every word as Compa greeted, and glomped, a surprised Nepgear. Once IF was finished explaining, Histoire smiled._

" _I see. Well, thank you for taking the time to apologize to my son. I hope he'll forgive you for breaking his arm and leg and you become good friends with him." Blanc nodded her head._

" _He will." Nodding to Blanc, Histoire called to Nepgear, who ran over to her mother._

" _I have to get dinner ready, so I'll be going first." Histoire and Nepgear walked over to the elevator. "Make sure to come over for dinner, Blanc. I'll tell your mother and sisters for you."_

" _Thank you." Blanc bowed and knocked on the door, opening it when she heard Neptune's voice. "Neptune…"_

" _Oh hey, Blanc!" Neptune was lying in his bed, since having both an arm and a leg broken made it difficult to move. Neptune's right leg and left arm were wrapped in a cast, his leg was held up with supports. The boy had a look similar to Blanc's as he flipped through the channels mindlessly. Fortunately, Neptune perked up upon seeing Blanc, pouting as the girl sat down next to him, oblivious of IF and Compa's presence. "Can you believe the changed Jom & Terry's time to show in the early morning!?" Blanc, not interested in the show like her best friend, shrugged her shoulders. "I'm soooo bored now! I don't have anything to d-" Neptune glanced at IF and Compa. "Who zat?" IF coughed into her fist._

" _I-I'm IF, the girl you saved a while back." Neptune's mouth made an "o" as he remembered who the girl was. "I'm sorry that you broke yo-"_

" _Eh, it's fine." Caught off guard, IF stared at the boy, confused._

" _What?"_

" _It's fine." Neptune grinned and gave the girl the peace sign. "This was my own choice, anyways~!" The boy let out an embarrassed chuckle. "I get to skip school after all!" Everyone in the room, minus Neptune, sweatdropped as Blanc looked to her bag._

" _Ah. Right." Blanc fished out the packet of papers and handed them to Neptune. "Ms. Manual wanted you to work on these while you were out." Neptune pouted as he took the papers._

" _Aw, Nep. I was looking for something to do, but not like this…" Blanc patted the boy on the head._

" _It's not good to be lazy." The boy sighed as Compa stood up._

" _Nep-Nep."_

" _Who." Compa pointed at the boy's casts._

" _Your casts need to be replaced." Neptune glanced at his wrapped up limbs, tilting his head._

" _But I just got these wrapped up a while ago." Compa shook her head._

" _No, bad Nep-Nep!"_

" _Who?"_

" _If you don't keep those bandages fresh, there's a chance of infection and your wounds won't heal. Wait here, I'll be right back!"_

" _But you don't use bandages for casts…" Neptune raised his free hand and blinked as Compa ran out of the door. "Wait, who was that?" IF pulled out her phone, texting something._

" _My friend, Compa, she was with me when I broke your limbs." Neptune realized something._

" _Wait, how is she gonna get bandages?"_

" _Her grandpa works here as a doctor." Blanc began to peel her tangerine._

" _Really!?" As Blanc peeled of a piece of the fruit's skin, Compa burst into the room, bandages in hand._

" _Okay, Nep-Nep. Hoooold still!" Compa climbed onto Neptune's hospital bed, her knees digging into Neptune's stomach._

" _Augh, C-Compa…" Grabbing Neptune's free arm, Compa began to wrap the bandages around his arm so tightly that the boy began to wince in pain. At the same time, Blanc had finished peeling the tangerine and worked on removing the pith._

" _Don't worry, Nep-Nep! My granpda's a doctor and he always says "That a fresh bandage is better than a bandaid!" The boy couldn't respond as he endured the pressure on his arm._

" _Uh… Compa? I think you're hurting Nep." Compa smiled at IF, bouncing and crushing Neptune's ribs._

" _It's okay, Iffy. I know what I'm doing." Suddenly, a doctor ran into the room, looking at Compa._

" _Compa, my grandchild. Stop!" The girl smiled as she hugged her grandfather while the man removed Neptune's bandages._

* * *

 _Blanc had finished her tangerine when Compa's grandfather apologized to Neptune because of his granddaughter's antics. After that, the elderly doctor left the room and told Compa to behave, giving IF and Compa some money to get some drinks._

" _Compa and I will go buy some drinks, so we'll be back." The girls moved over to the door, opening it. "Nep?" IF turned to look at the boy before she leaves._

" _Yeah, what is it?" The girl looked at the ground as her face blushed a little bit._

" _Do you think that we could be friends?" Before Neptune could speak up, Blanc stood up._

" _Yes." IF brightened up and left the room with Compa while Neptune glared at Blanc._

" _Blanc!?" Blanc raised an eyebrow._

" _What?" Neptune gestured towards the door._

" _Why did you do that?" Blanc huffs._

" _You were going to say yes anyways." Neptune pouted._

" _But at least let me say it…" Suddenly, the slightly open door was shoved open, revealing a disheveled Arfoire, sweating heavily, Arfoire's head whipped around until her eyes landed on her son, a wave of relief overcoming her._

" _Neptune!" Arfoire hugged her son, who was surprised as Blanc was. "You're okay, right? You've been eating well, right? Brushing your teeth and sleeping before eight o'clock?" Scratching her head, Blanc sat down and pulled out her homework, beginning to work on it as Neptune giggled at his mother's affection._

" _I'm… fine. Now I am."_

* * *

 _Once Arfoire was satisfied over her son's health,- she was still sour over her son's arm and leg- the woman turned to Blanc._

" _Blanc, thank you for looking after Neptune." The girl nodded as Neptune's mommy pulled a light novel out of her suitcase, handing it to her. "I thought you'd like it." The girl happily accepted the book as Arfoire turned to Neptune._

" _Thank you, Aunty Arfy." Arfoire nodded before caressing her son's face._

" _I'm sorry for being away for so long, Neptune." Neptune smiled as Arfoire reached into her pocket. "I have something I ordered just for you…" The woman pulled out a small box, handing it to her son. "I thought you'd still be into music, so I asked a personal friend of mine to make this for you." Neptune opened the box to find a pair of d-pad headphones._

" _Mommy… Thank you!" Neptune hugged his mommy as IF and Compa walked in._

" _Uh…" IF and Compa looked around. Blanc was ignoring the area as she was immersed into her brand new book while Arfoire and Neptune were tearfully hugging each other. "We brought drinks…"_

* * *

"Heh…" Blanc smiled as she placed a finger on the picture. Ever since that time, IF and Compa had been a part of Blanc and Neptune's life. IF's blunt and aloof nature and Compa's kind and ditzy behavior spiced up their daily lives. Also, thanks to IF, Neptune and Blanc had more reasons to look at their phones or call people. "What would we have done without these two.." Blanc flipped the page, her smile immediately fading.

The next picture was of Neptune, Nepgear, Arfoire, Histoire and Blanc. Arfoire, Historie and Nepgear were dressed in formal wear while Neptune and Blanc were in their school uniforms. Neptune's eye were red as Blanc kept her eyes on him, concern etched throughout her face. In Histoire and Nepgear's hands were suitcases.

"Especially at this moment in time…"

* * *

 _ **To be continued in…**_

 _ **Memory 8: Headphones**_


	9. Memory 8: Headphones

_**Memory 8: Headphones**_ _ **(Age 12)**_

* * *

" _Oi, Neptune." Blanc and Neptune were walking home, having done their homework at the library with IF and Compa. Around the boy's neck were the headphones he had been given last year by his mother. The boy put special care into maintaining the pair of accessories. However, the boy wasn't putting any attention to his surroundings, wearing both earbuds and staring into the sky. "O-"_

" _Blanc~!" The girl lurched forward as Compa glomped the girl as IF appears next to Neptune, patting him on the shoulder. Sighing, Neptune nodded to IF before speeding up, confusing both IF and Compa while Blanc watched him walk ahead._

" _What's up with Nep?" IF crossed her arms while Compa looked hurt by Neptune's actions._

" _He's been like this all day, even during lunch and at the library…" Blanc scratched her head and readjusted her hat._

" _Today, Nepgear and Histoire are leaving." Both IF and Compa were shocked._

" _What do you mean!?" Blanc looked towards the clouds, slowly floating through the sky._

" _Last month, Nepgear had decided to become and idol in order to be managed by Aunty Arfy. However, Aunty Histy wouldn't accept it until Nepgear convinced her to be her manager until Aunty Arfy was able to join Aunty Histy." Compa looked towards the direction Neptune left._

" _Wait, Ge-Ge and Aunty Histy are gonna leave Nep-Nep all by himself." Blanc nodded, closing her eyes._

" _Since Momma and I are here, Neptune can still live in his house and still be able to have someone watch over him. But as a result, Neptune has gained a deep hatred for idols." IF nodded in agreement._

" _I don't blame him." IF pulled out her phone, having received a text. "If my parents and baby sister left you alone at the age of twelve because of an industry, I'd be bitter as well."_

" _Today, Momma, Neptune and I will take them to the airport, where Aunty Arfy will take a plane with them." Blanc looked to IF and Compa. "Can you two come along too?" Compa was about to agree when IF closed her phone._

" _Sorry, Blanc. Mom wants me to go home, saying that I've stayed out too late." IF then looked to Compa. "And Compa's grandpa wants me to take her home right now." Compa was visibly saddened._

" _Aw… Sorry, Blanc." The girl nodded as the two began to turn towards another direction. "Please say bye to Aunty Histy and Ge-Ge for us…" Blanc waved goodbye as the two left. Once Blanc walked down the path to her and Neptune's house, she found Neptune waiting around the corner, hands in his pockets. Blanc made eye contact with Neptune, who nodded and walked towards their house._

" _Come on." Blanc shouldered her bag and walked beside Neptune, seeing a van in front of Neptune's house. Nepgear poked her head from out of the van, waving to them._

" _Big Sister Blanc, Big Brother! Over here!" Neptune sighed and Blanc looked at him, gently placing a hand on his back. The two climbed into the van and closed the door. The van started up its engine and drove towards the airport._

* * *

 _When the van parked inside the airport's parking lot, Neptune leaning against the car seat, crossing his arms and glaring at the back of the seat in front of him. Histoire and Mina got out of the car, getting the luggage out of the car while Rom and Ram were humming a song that Mina had been singing to them every night. Nepgear was staring at her brother, afraid of her brother's glare while Blanc was reeling from motion sickness because she read a book in the car._

" _Neptune, Blanc, can you two help us take out the luggage?" Blanc drank a bottle of water that Mina bought and stepped out of the van, taking a deep breath. Neptune sighed as he slid out of the van, putting his hands in his pockets as he walked over to the back of the van. Blanc returned with a cart as Histoire and Mina took out the luggage. Neptune would drop the cart into onto the cart, glaring the whole time. Rom and Ram peeked out of the van, their eyes sparking upon seeing Neptune place that last bag onto the cart._

" _I wanna ride it!"_

" _...Ride!" The twins climbed onto the cart, scaring Histoire and Nepgear as Blanc and Mina picked up the twins. Neptune shook his head as Mina scolded the twins, although the two were too preoccupied with their desires to ride a car. When the two began chanting their wants, Neptune shrugged his shoulders and brought over another cart, causing the twins to cheer. Neptune would push the cart carrying the luggage while Blanc would push the cart carrying the twins while Mina locked up the car and Histoire helped Nepgear triple check everything in her purse._

 _Upon reaching the main building of the airport, Arfoire was already waiting for them, tickets in hand._

" _Mommy!" Nepgear ran over to her mommy, hugging her as Rom and Ram pointed out the giant T.V.s that detailed the departures of planes at certain times. Arfoire kissed her daughter on the forehead and turned to Neptune._

" _Neptune, come here son." Arfoire walked over to her son, arms wide. However, Neptune let go of the cart and stepped backwards. Raising an eyebrow, Arfoire closed in on her son. "Now don't be like that." Arfoire wraps her arms around her son as Neptune turns away. Histoire looked on in discomfort as Nepgear looked worried. Blanc stepped forward, but Mina placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, shaking her head. Looking at the ground, Blanc placed a hand on Ram's head and another on Rom's._

" _Neptune…" Histoire reached out to her son until Arfoire held out a hand, shaking her head. The woman stroked her son's head, pressing her head against his._

" _Listen, Neptune. I'm sorry that I have to take away you mother and your sist-"_

" _It's not your fault, it's their decision." Tears began to form in the woman's eyes._

" _A-At least, can Mommy get a smile from her little eggplant." Neptune huffed and looked away. Suddenly, Nepgear tackled Neptune, hugging him and holding back her tears._

" _Big Brother Neptune, I'm sorry!" Neptune looked down as Nepgear cried into his sleeve. "Forgive me, please!" Neptune sighed and patted her on the head as Histoire covered her face, tears streaming down from her eyes._

" _Um…" Mina stepped forward, pointing at the clock at the center of the terminal. "I think we should eat before we go." Arfoire let go of Neptune and nodded, leading them towards the cafeteria. At this point, Neptune removed one of his headphones._

* * *

 _Blanc, Neptune, Rom, Ram and Nepgear sat at one table, eating pizza and hamburgers while Mina, Histoire and Arfoire sat in a table next to them, drinking coffee and eating sandwiches. Glancing at her brother, Nepgear took big bites of her burger, similar to how Neptune would. However, the boy wasn't paying attention as he finished his burger already and was staring at his mommy, who was staring at her phone. Rom, Ram and Blanc shared a pizza, although the girls could only eat half and begged Mina to take the leftovers home. Blanc drank her milkshake as Neptune peeked over his mommy's hunched shoulder. Arfoire was watching an idol, by the name of Ukim, dance and sing. Neptune tilted his head._

" _Mommy?" Surprised, Arfoire looked to the side as Neptune pointed as Ukim's foot. "Her foot looks weird there."_

" _...What?" Arfoire replayed the message, realizing that Neptune was telling the truth. Immediately, the woman hugged his son. "Neptune, I'm so proud of you!" The boy blinked in dull confusion as the woman cuddled his son. "Now I have the perfect reason to come home every once in awhile!" Neptune nodded, gently holding his mommy's arm. "Histy, guess what!?"_

 _Having taken a picture, Histoire, Arfoire and Nepgear stood at the line up, getting ready to head over to the plane. Histoire hugs her son._

" _Neptune, be a good boy and listen to what Aunty Mina says, okay?" Neptune hugged his mother and nodded his head._

" _I will…" Rom and Ram hugged Nepgear, crying._

" _Nepgear, you better come over or else I'm gonna draw on your face!" Rom nodded, trying to rub the tears out of her face._

" _Y-Yeah…" Arfoire holds a hand out to Mina, who takes and shakes it._

" _Mina, thanks for taking care of Neptune. And our house." Mina giggles._

" _It's the least I can do." As Arfoire, Histoire and Nepgear get in line, Mina huddles Rom and Ram back towards the direction to the parking lot. Neptune stands there for a while as Blanc stood behind him. Suddenly, Neptune took off his other earbud and moved as close to the line as he possibly could before the barriers blocked him from moving._

" _Mother, Mommy, Nepgear." Neptune raised a hand, waving at them as hard as he could. "Good luck!" All three of them teared up as Neptune grabbed Blanc's hand and ran to catch up to Mina._

" _Neptune!"_

 _Once they were in the car, Neptune and Rom had fallen asleep, emotionally exhausted from today's events. Blanc closed her book, reminding herself of earlier. Blanc looked over to Neptune and widened her eyes. On the boy's sleeping face was a smile, tears rolling down. Frowning, Blanc reached out and placed her hand on top of his. Seeing this from the rear view mirror, Mina smiled and refocused her attention to driving._

* * *

"Now that I think of it…" Blanc strokes the sleeping girl's hair. "After that day, Neptune began to close himself more and more…" Blanc remembered how welcoming and warm Blanc and Mina were to him. Flipping the page, Blanc furrowed her eyebrows and clicked her tongue. "I really didn't want to remember this one."

Blanc stared at picture of Neptune and Blanc when they were thirteen. The latter's face had her signature blank face, although her cheeks were stained red. Remembering what happened on the day of this picture, Blanc felt her embarrassment return to her… until her eyes landed on the younger Neptune. The boy was looking away from the camera, eyes filled with longing, but with a strong sense of determination.

Blanc remembered this day. There was no way for her to forget. Blanc groaned as she made sure that she didn't wake up Plutia. Frowning, Blanc closed her eyes as the memory returned to her. Blanc disliked this memory, she could never like this memory no matter what.

It was the day Neptune grew up.

* * *

 _ **To be continued in…**_

 _ **Memory 9: Growing Up**_


	10. Memory 9: Growing Up

_**Memory 9: Growing Up**_ _ **(Age 13)**_

* * *

" _Oi, Neptune!" Blanc walked through Neptune's household, searching for her friend. "Mom said dinner's ready!" After searching the whole first floor, and stealing a pudding and a tangerine in the process, Blanc put her hands at her hips and look at the ceiling. "He's probably upstairs…" Narrowing her eyes, Blanc stomped her way up the stairs. As she reached the second floor, Blanc found that one of the only two doors that were used on this floor, Neptune's room and the bathroom, was left ajar. Thankful that the bathroom door was closed, Blanc marched over to Neptune's room and peeked in._

" _Tch, I thought we were able to get that misstep covered, Mom…" Neptune was leaning against his desk, staring intently at the the computer monitor at in his room. Every once in awhile, Neptune would grab his mouse and click multiple times, eventually writing something on a notepad before placing his face on his hand. Shaking her head, Blanc gripped the door as hard as she possibly could, certain that she left crack marks on it. Taking a deep breath, Blanc pushed the door with enough force to slam against the wall. Neptune seized up at the sudden sound, turning off his monitor and slamming it against his desk._

" _Hey, did you not hear me?" Neptune sweatdropped at Blanc's sudden aggressiveness as he pulled his headphones off._

" _N-No, why?" Blanc stomped over to Neptune, startling the boy. Once she was in arm's length, Blanc grabbed Neptune's shirt, pulling him close._

" _Mom. Food. Now." Roughly shoving him aside, Blanc walked out of the room, slamming his door shut. Neptune scratched his head as he listened to Blanc head downstairs._

" _Geez, what's with her?" Eyes widening, Neptune lifted his monitor up and turned it on, sighing in relief when there wasn't any damage relevant._

" _Hurry up, dammit!" Neptune flinched as Blanc's voice reverberated throughout the house. Turning off his computer, Neptune ran over to his door._

" _C-Coming!" When Neptune ran to the front door, Blanc was leaning against the wall. "Alright, let's get some grub in our belly!" Blanc looked at Neptune's outfit, a white sleeveless shirt, a pair of running shorts and his custom headphones wrapped loosely around his neck, which lead to his pocket, where his phone was most likely located._

" _What hell is this?" Neptune turned around confused. "You're going to our place to eat, not to have a boxing training marathon!" The boy raises an eyebrow._

" _But… you never cared about that." Blanc glared, intimidating Neptune._

" _Change."_

" _B-But…"_

" _CHANGE DAMMIT!" In that instant, Neptune zipped up the stairs and zipped back down, wearing a blue button up t-shirt and slacks. Huffing, Blanc nodded her head and left the house. Waiting at the gate for Neptune to lock the door, Blanc led Neptune to the front door. As Blanc opened the door, the smell of dinner wafted into the two's nose. "I'm home!"_

" _Sorry for intruding and I'm home!" Blanc and Neptune removed their shoes as Mina, humming joyously to herself, popped her head into the hallway._

" _Welcome home, Blanc! Neptune! Dinner's just ready~!" Neptune raised an eyebrow as Mina glided back into the kitchen._

" _What's with her?" Blanc scoffed and walked ahead._

" _Shut up." A question mark floated above Neptune's head as he put on his purple slippers._

" _And what's with you?" Blanc turned around, narrowing her eyes. "N-Nothing, I didn't say anything!" The girl grunted and entered the dining room, Neptune two feet behind her. Rom and Ram were sitting at the table already, waving at the two._

" _Big Brother Neptune, Big Sis!" Blanc nodded at the twins before sitting down as Neptune patted the two on the head._

" _Hey Rom, Ram! How are you doing, not giving Blanc trouble?" Rom shook her head while Ram nodded. "Cause that's my job!" Blanc cleared her throat, causing Neptune to sit down next to her, and scoot his chair away from her a little bit._

" _Dinner's here!" Mina placed bowls in front of them, Neptune and Ram grabbing their chopsticks eagerly._

" _Thanks for the food!" Everyone began to dig in, only to stop in confusion, except Blanc. Mina had served them bowls of red rice with beans dotting the dish. Neptune tilted his head to the side, Rom and Ram copying him._

" _Uh, Aunty?" Mina smiled as she dug into her serving._

" _What is it, Neptune?" Neptune held up the bowl, raising an eyebrow._

" _What… is this?" Blanc's eye twitched._

" _Red beans and rice." Neptune sweatdropped as Rom and Ram tried the dish, finding it delicious._

" _I-I can see that, but why this?" Mina hummed to herself as Blanc clenched her chopsticks into her hand._

" _Today is a special day!" Rom looked at her mother._

" _It is someone's birthday?" Mina shook her head. Rom placed her chopsticks into her mouth as she wracked her brain. Ram leaned onto the table, grinning wide._

" _Is it something special?" This time Mina nodded. Neptune stuffed his face full with rice before looking at Mina, interested._

" _Well, red rice and beans are served when a girl's…" Mina turned to Neptune, her smile wavering. "Neptune, are you sure you want to hear about this?" Now, boy was more confused than he originally was._

" _Um… Am I not supposed to?" Mina placed her chopsticks down, ignoring Blanc's glare._

" _You see, this topic is sensitive to girls." Neptune blinked his eyes._

" _I guess I'm okay with that." Smiling again, Mina nodded her head._

" _That's good to hear, it'd be better that you learn about this." Mina cleared her throat. "At a certain point at a young girl's life, she reaches a stage where… Once a month, she undergoes a certain phase, causing her to act strangely and maybe even increase certain aspects of her personality." Widening his eyes, Neptune turned to Blanc._

" _Wait, Blanc! Is that happening to y-" Neptune's sentence was cut off by the table and Neptune jerking into the and the boy dropping his head onto the table as he gripped his leg and cried in pain. "Agh! My shin! Why!?" Blanc crossed her arms and looked away. Mina, sweatdropping, patted Neptune on the back. Rom and Ram were confused._

" _...Anyways, although it can be a troubling time for men…" Neptune groaned. "But it is also the pathway to womanhood." Mina smiled at Blanc, who blushed a light red. "Congratulations, Blanc. I'm so proud of you!" Rom and Ram had stars in their eyes and ran over to their sister, hugging her._

" _Big Sis, you're gonna be an adult! So cool!" Blanc was caught off guard by her sisters' affection._

" _Wh-Wha-!?"_

" _I wanna be an adult too…" As the twins huddled around Blanc, Mina pulled out her camera, taking a picture. However, the mother didn't notice Neptune's longing stare as he watched Blanc try to pry herself free of her adorable sisters' love. Fortunately and unfortunately, Blanc caught Neptune's stare._

" _What are you looking at?" Neptune shook his head._

" _Nothing, it's just that looking at you and your sisters reminded me of Nepgear…" There was an awkward silence as Rom and Ram obliviously cuddled Blanc. "Well, I better go home. Rom, Ram, make sure you take a bath before you go to bed." The twins agreed with Neptune as the boy waved goodbye, thanking Mina through the hallway. Suddenly, Blanc freed herself away from her twins and ran after Neptune. The girl caught her best friend leaving through the gate._

" _Neptune." Neptune turning around, a curious smile on his face. "You still miss Nepgear and your parents?" The boy sighed and looked up at the night sky, stars were beginning to poke out as the sun had vanished underneath the horizon._

" _Yeah… To be honest, it's kinda lonely but I have to get used to it." Blanc blinked her eyes. "I have idea when Nep. Jr and my parents will come home, so I have to get used to taking care of the house." Neptune reached a hand out to the stars, closing it at as he aimed for a faint star. "I wanna become a man who can take care of his home, his family…" The boy looked to the side, his eyes glancing at the ground. "And not leaving them alone for years at a time." Blanc walked over to Neptune and patted him on the back._

" _Don't worry, even if you're all alone. I'm still your best friend and sister." Neptune smiled and hugged Blanc._

" _Thanks, buddy." Blanc returned the hug, remembering something._

" _Ah, sorry about earlier today." Neptune laughed._

" _It's alright, you're gonna grow up to be an adult soon!" Neptune suddenly pulled away and gave her the peace sign. "After all, you're still smaller than me!" Blanc glared at him, waving a fist._

" _Shut up, and get out of here!" Neptune laughed as he ran back to his house. Shaking her head, Blanc turned around to see Rom and Ram._

" _Sis, let's take a bath!"_

" _Bath…!" Blanc scratched her head as she walked back into her house._

" _Alright, alright."_

* * *

"After that day, I began to notice Neptune's loneliness often." Blanc stroked Plutia's head, the girl unconciously nuzzling against her hand. "It was such a struggle to get used to it…" Blanc's frown grew larger. "But it was worse getting used to it."

"Aunty… Blanny…" Blanc looked down to see Plutia drooling onto her hat. Blanc blinked as the gripped onto her shirt. "Plutia… loves you…" Chuckling, Blanc poked Neptune's daughter on the cheek.

"Heh. Plutia, you have to say to your daddy, not your aunty. Well, not as often as you do." Feeling better, Blanc flipped the page, only to regret it again.

The picture was of Blanc, Rom and Ram. Blanc had a sad smile on her face while Rom and Ram were smiling brightly, holding suitcases. Behind them was Mina, tears forcing to spill out of her eyes. Neptune and Nepgear were at the far back of the room, the former leaning against the wall and Nepgear stood next to her brother, smiling. Unlike Nepgear or the younger Blanc, the current Blanc frowned as the memory unwillingly flooded back into her head.

"...Dam-" Reminding herself that Plutia was sleeping next to her, Blanc lay her head down, trying to remove the memory out of her head. Instead, Blanc let the memory play in her head, pulling Plutia close to her without thinking about it.

"Rom… Ram…"

* * *

 _ **To be continued in…**_

 _ **Memory 10: Repetition**_


	11. Memory 10: Repetition

_**Memory 10: Repetition**_ _ **(Age 14)**_

* * *

 _The occasional sound of a page flipping echoed throughout the silent Planeptune household. Inside Neptune's room, Blanc and the room's owner were enjoying their Sunday afternoon._

 _Lying on the boy's bed, Blanc read through her light novel, arms held up towards the ceiling and the lower half her body was propped up against the wall. Neptune, on the other hand, was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed frame. In his hands was a brand new RZR, that Neptune had bought from the money he got from Arfoire when she came over to drop off his monthly salary and allowance. Engrossed in his game, Neptune didn't noticed Blanc discretely edge herself over the bed and take the pillow he was using to comfort his neck, replacing it with her poofy hat. Blanc returned to her previous position, placing the pillow under her head and sighing in relief. As Neptune leaned his against the bed frame, the boy immediately turned around, finding his friend's hat. Pausing the game and standing up, Neptune stared at his friend._

" _Blanc."_

" _What?" The girl slid the crisp paper to another page, reading the tiny inked worked on it._

" _Did yo-" Neptune narrowed his eyes upon seeing Blanc's head. "Gimme back my pillow." Blanc looked up, pressing the back of her head against the pillow. Neptune's annoyed lavender eyes stared into Blanc's dull azure ones. After a moment of silence, the girl blinked, breaking eye contact, and resumed reading._

" _No." Neptune pouted._

" _Aw… Come on, that's my favorite pillow!" Blanc pulled and placed her bookmark into her book, bending her knees and grabbing the pillow. Rolling to the side, Blanc escaped Neptune's pouncing grab for his favorite pillow, leaving the boy to face plant against the bed sheets._

" _Your a guy, man up." Frowning, Neptune got onto his hands and knees, a grin beginning to creep onto his face._

" _Okay then…" Blanc was facing away from Neptune, nuzzling her head into his pillow in order to get her friend to react. "Then I won't!" Neptune dropped himself ontop of Blanc, startling the girl as the boy attempted to wrestle the pillow away from the girl._

" _I thought you were gonna grow up!" Neptune grinned, using one arm to pin Blanc's leg down while using the other one grapple for the pillow._

" _Growing up and manning up are two different things~!" Blanc narrowed her eyes, using her free hand to push her book to safety._

" _Oh, it's on!"_

* * *

 _Half an hour later, Blanc and Neptune lay in bed, exhausted and sweaty from their round of wrestling. Their match ended with Neptune rolling for a pin up and making a fast count. Panting, Neptune and Blanc looked at each other and after a second of staring at each other before beginning to laugh out their weariness. Blanc sat up, wiping her forehead._

" _I'm gonna take a bath." Neptune raised a hand, giving her the thumbs up._

" _Kay~." Blanc walked over to Neptune's closet. Opening it, Blanc pulled out a mini-drawer filled with some of Blanc's clothes. After shifting through her clothes, Blanc looked at the clothes she had assembled._

" _Ah, I don't have any shirts." Blanc turned to Neptune, who was happy to get his pillow back. "Neptune." The boy pulled his face out of his pillow and turned to stare at his friend._

" _Wasssup, Little Dynamite?" Blanc narrowed her eyes while Neptune grinned obviously at him._

" _I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that." Walking over to Neptune's drawer, Blanc opened the topmost shelf. "I'm borrowing a shirt." Neptune pressed his face against his pillow._

" _Mmmkay~." Pulling out one of his shirts, a purple t-shirt with a pudding picture on it, Blanc slung the shirt over her shoulder and picked up the rest of her clothes to go take a bath. Swinging his legs, Neptune stood and looked around his room. Neptune and Blanc messed up his bed while they were wrestling, pulling off his bed sheets and shifting the bed frame a bit. Sighing, Neptune got out of his comfort zone and got to work._

 _Once his bed had been fixed, Neptune collapsed on his bed. As he was closing his eyes, the door opened and Blanc walked into the room, a folded towel on her head. Blanc had changed into Neptune's shirt, being large enough to cover her waist and half of her thighs, but Neptune knew that Blanc was wearing shorts underneath the shirt. Steam floating off the girl, Blanc plopped herself next to Neptune._

" _Your turn." Neptune sat up, stretching his arms. Scratching the back of his head, Neptune stood up and walked over to his drawer._

" _Kay~." Leaving the room, Neptune headed towards the bathroom, for his time to get clean. Drying her hair with the towel on her head, Blanc looked around to find her book on Neptune's desk, next to his phone. As Blanc walked over to the desk, Neptune's phone rang. Glancing at his phone, Blanc saw Nepgear's name on the Caller ID._

" _Ah, it's Nepgear." Picking up the phone, Blanc answered the phone and put it next to her ear. "Hello?" A shout of surprise startled the girl._

" _No way, Neptune got a girlfriend!?" Blanc rolled her eyes. "U-U-Um… is my bro-bro-brother there?" The girl sighed._

" _Nepgear, it's Blanc."_

" _Blanc!?" Blanc smiled as the girl stuttered about. "Wait, Blanc you're dating my brother!?" Now she frowned. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Blanc let an exasperated sigh._

" _I'm not." Now Nepgear sighed in relief._

" _Oh good, I was afraid you two were dating…" Eye twitching, Blanc gritted her teeth._

" _What do you want, Nepgear?" Caught off guard, Nepgear stumbled over her words again._

" _C-Can you get my brother to open the front door? Mother forgot the keys and I really wanted to say hi…" Scratching the back of her head, Blanc headed downstairs. As she went to the front door, Blanc hung up the call. "Ah, she hung up!" Unlocking the door, Blanc opened the door to find Nepgear waiting in a disguise. Nepgear had grown her hair out so that it was up to her back, quite different from when the girl had her hair cut as short as her parents would possibly allow in order to imitate her brother. The girl-turned-idol was wearing a brown button-up sweater and black stockings, with a matching brown hat and dark purple glasses. "Bl-Blanc!? You never told me that you were in here!" Blanc blinked._

" _Did you check out house?" Letting Nepgear into the house, Blanc looked outside to see if anyone was there. Upon finding no one, the girl closed the door._

" _I did, but you weren't there." Blanc stopped walking and stared at Nepgear._

" _Why did you think I wasn't here if you knew your brother was here and_ _ **I**_ _picked up his cell phone?" Nepgear's mouth made a circle shape after a minute of thinking._

" _Oh, that's right. I'm sorry." Blanc patted the girl on the head._

" _It's fine." Suddenly, Neptune's voice erupted from upstairs._

" _Blanc, where's my phone?" Blanc cupped her hand over her mouth._

" _Down here!" Nepgear was about to speak when Blanc covered her mouth, signaling her to stay quiet._

" _I left my phone on my desk…" Neptune walked down the stairs, drying his head with a towel. "So why would i-" The boy dropped his towel upon seeing Nepgear, who sheepishly waved at her brother._

" _Hi, Nept- Goodness!?" Neptune tackled Nepgear, raising her into the air as he hugged her tightly._

" _Nepgear! Blanc, look! It's Nep. Jr!" Blanc shook her head and smiled._

" _I know, Neptune. I know."_

* * *

 _Nepgear placed a cup of tea in front of Blanc. The girl flipped a page of her book and took the cup, sipping it._

" _Warm. Nice." Nepgear smiled as Neptune hugged his little sister again, who happily hugged him back._

" _Neptune, I missed you so much!" Neptune nuzzled his sister, who happily giggled._

" _Why are you doing here, Nep Jr.? I thought you couldn't go anywhere without Mom or Mother." Nepgear nodded._

" _Mother's actually in Blanc's house, talking with Aunty Mina." Confused, Blanc tilted her head._

" _Why would Aunty Hist-" Neptune stood up and dragged his sister upstairs._

" _Come on, Nep Jr.! Take a look at your room, it's still the same the last time you were in there!"_

" _Wow, really!?" Sighing, Blanc watched Neptune pull his sister out of the living room as the sounds of the front being unlocked caught the girl's ears. Walking out to the hallway, Blanc found Histoire taking off her shoes._

" _Oh, hello Blanc!" Histoire smiled as Blanc walked over to her aunt._

" _Welcome back."_

" _Ah, I'm home." Neptune ran down the stairs without Nepgear._

" _Blanc, check it out! Nepgear's trapped in nostalgia up… there…" Histoire's smiled widened as she looked at her son._

" _Neptune! Look at you, you've gotten so big in such a short amount of time!" Shaking his head, Neptune ran over to his mother in the same manner he did to Nepgear, failing to lift the woman into the air._

" _Mother!" Histoire giggled as Neptune held back his tears. Nepgear came downstairs to see her brother reunite with her mother, hugging Blanc as a form of imitation._

" _Hi, Neptune." Histoire stroked Neptune's head. The boy looked behind his mother._

" _Where's Mom?" Histoire bit her cheek._

" _Mom is abroad, managing a two girl unit called the 'CPUs'." Neptune frowned and pouted._

" _Alright, I'll do everything in my power to forget and not care about them!" Everyone, barring Neptune, sweatdropped._

" _Neptune, would you follow my group?" Neptune let go of Histoire and stared at his sister._

" _... I guess?" Histoire looked behind her, gesturing to something._

" _Speaking of Nepgear's group, Nepgear is searching for two more people to turn her two girl unit into a four girl unit." Suddenly, Rom and Ram run through the front door, hugging Blanc._

" _Rom? Ram?" Ram stared at Blanc, stars in her eyes._

" _Ne, Ne! Guess, what Blanc?" Rom piped in._

" _We're gonna be famous!" Blanc furrowed her eyebrows._

" _Famous?" Liking the ring of the word, Rom and Ram ran around Blanc, chanting the word over and over again. Histoire walked past Neptune and looked at Blanc apologetically._

" _Blanc, I'm sorry." Neptune blinked his eyes, widening them as Blanc tilted her head in confusion._

" _Sorry?" Neptune clenched his hands and glared at the back of his mother's head._

" _Mother, don't tell me…" Histoire turned around, startled by Neptune's glare, even Nepgear was intimidated by Neptune's scary face. Rom and Ram hid behind Blanc while Neptune's best friend stepped backwards. "You plan on recruiting Rom and Ram into the idol industry!" Mina walked into the house, a hand on her shoulder._

" _Wrong, Neptune." Neptune whipped around, shock on his face._

" _Histoire already talked to me about it, and I agreed to allow Rom and Ram to become idols." Furious, Neptune glared at everyone._

" _I can't believe you would do this!?" Nepgear tried to soothe her brother, only for Neptune to run past her and up the stairs. As the boy ran past Blanc, despite being frozen by the thought of Rom and Ram leaving her, the girl caught a tear roll down Neptune's cheek._

" _Neptune…" Mina and Histoire looked at each other as Nepgear stared at the ground, ashamed. Rom and Ram were beginning to cry as Neptune's outburst terrified them. Letting go of her twin sisters, Banc headed up the stairs._

" _Blanc, what are you…" Blanc turned around, one foot on a higher step than the other foot._

" _I'm going to talk to my brother."_

* * *

 _Knowing Neptune, Blanc found him in his room, bundled up in his blanket. Shrugging her shoulders, Blanc sat down next to what she assumed what his head. Patting Neptune's head, Blanc leaned against his back, causing the boy to grunt._

" _You know, you always sucked a Hide and Seek." Neptune shifted around to make himself comfortable, but Blanc pressed her elbow against Neptune's back._

" _...What do you want?" Blanc placed her head on top of Neptune's, causing him to grunt again. "...Move it."_

" _No." Blanc pulled the covers off of Neptune's head, revealing boy's eyes to be filled with tears. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Blanc lied down next to Neptune. After all, I'm supposed to be the one that's mad, not you." Lifting the blanket, Blanc crawls in with Neptune, lying on top of him._

" _What are you doing?" Blanc presses her cheek against Neptune's._

" _Cuddling."_

" _We're too old for that." Blanc laughs._

" _Not for siblings." Silence. "You were mad for my sake, weren't you?" When Neptune didn't respond again, Blanc snuggled against Neptune. "You didn't want Rom and Ram to be afraid of me so you took the initiative."_

" _Sorry… I was just so mad… thinking that Rom and Ram would end up like how Nepgear and I ended up…" Blanc tapped him on the head._

" _Wanna just sit here and chill for a bit?" Neptune shook his head and sat up, letting the girl slide off his back._

" _Nah, I feel better now." Neptune and Blanc headed downstairs to find Histoire about to up._

" _Neptune!" Neptune held his mother's hand._

" _I'm sorry, Mother. I lost my cool just now. Forgive me." Just before Histoire could speak, Neptune pulled his mother into a hug. As Blanc walked down the stairs, Rom and Ram hugged their sister._

" _Blanc, we're sorry…" Blanc patted her sisters on the head, smiling._

" _It's fine, you two have the choice to do what you want, and as a big sister, I have to support you with all my heart." Blanc looked at her mother. "Right, Mom?" Mina teared up and ran over to her daughters, hugging them._

" _I'm sorrrrrryyyyyyyyy!" Nepgear walked up to Histoire and Neptune, nudging herself into the hug._

" _Mommy, we're gonna visit as much as possible!" Rom nodded._

" _And we're gonna call too!" Neptune stared his mother._

" _You'd let them do that, right?" Histoire nodded._

" _Of course." Neptune then turned to Nepgear, an expectant look on his face._

" _I-I'll visit and call too!" Smiling, Neptune pressed his cheek against Nepgear's. Mina broke their hug and headed out the front door._

" _I have to pack up Rom and Ram's suitcases so they can leave for training tomorrow, so I'll have to go right now.'' The twins ran after them, pulling Nepgear with them as well. Histoire let go of her son and smiled at him before following them as well. With just Neptune and Blanc in the household, the boy glanced at his best friend._

" _Shall we help them out too?" Blanc nodded._

" _Yeah."_

* * *

Blanc shook her head at the memory, reminding herself how quiet, how empty, how… lonely her place was. Neptune had contacted IF and Compa, inviting them to come and sleep over often. Smiling, Blanc played with Plutia's cheek. When Rom and Ram came back, she had gotten used to the quietness that filled their home, barring their occasional visits and phone calls.

"I don't what I missed more… the twins or the silence." Giggling to herself, Blanc moved her hand away from Plutia and back to the photo album.

"Mmm…" Glancing down, Blanc saw Plutia shift around and lazily open her eyes.

"Mornin', Plutia." The girl let out a quiet yawn as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. Blanc flipped the page to find a picture of Blanc and Neptune were lying on the ground, a booklet and pen in Neptune's hands while Blanc was on her hands and knees, looking defeated. Blanc covered her mouth, preventing her laughter. Having finished rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes, Plutia looked at the picture.

"Aunty…" Plutia yawned again. "Blanny… What's that?" Blanc smiled.

"A good story."

* * *

 _ **To be continued in…**_

 _ **Memory 11: Book**_


	12. Memory 11: Book

_**Memory 11: Book**_ _ **(Age 15)**_

* * *

 _Neptune was lying on his bed, eye closed and both of his headphones plugged into his ears. Arfoire had sent him a ton of videos to examine, leaving the boy exhausted as he tried to look over everything in one night. Luckily for him, night he was given the videos, it was a Saturday._

 _Suddenly, Blanc shoved the door open, but the boy was too excited to notice. Walking up to Neptune, the girl waved a hand in front of his face. After a minute of waving her hand, Blanc dropped her hand and leaned over Neptune so that her shadow would block his face. When that didn't work, Blanc blinked and climbed onto the bed, dropping herself onto Neptune's stomach._

" _Nepu!" Neptune tried to sit up, but Blanc's head held him down. Shaking off his shock, Neptune raised his head to stare at Blanc, who was staring at the wall. "Hi, Blanc." Blanc turned to face him and waved at him. "Ya need something?" Raising her head off of Neptune's stomach, the girl crawled up to Neptune, without using her arms. Once her head was in line with her best friend's, Blanc held up a booklet in front of Neptune's face. It was a booklet made of white copy paper with words printed on it, "The Misadventures of White Heart!"._

" _Read." Taking the booklet from Blanc, Neptune had an interested look on his face. Opening the booklet, Neptune began to read._

" _Knowing you, this should be really- Huh?" A drop of sweat rolled down Neptune's face as he turned to Blanc, who had her signature bored face, which normally consisted of dull blue eyes and upside down "v" shaped mouth, but her eyes were shining with hope. "Eh…" Neptune skimmed through the rest of the pages before putting it down. "Blanc?"_

" _Mm?" Trying not to look at Blanc's face directly, Neptune glanced at the booklet in his hands._

" _Is this supposed to be a manga?"_

" _Light novel."_

" _What?"_

" _It's a light no-" Neptune covered Blanc's mouth with his free hand, the drop of sweat on his face becoming larger._

" _I heard you the first time." Neptune moved his hand away from Blanc's mouth and flipped through the booklet again. "Blanc, you've read light novels right?" The girl nodded. "Then… why does fifty percent of this novel consist of onomatopoeia and the other fifty percent is screams and pictures?"_

" _It's a unique light novel." Neptune's eye twitched._

" _Is… this Shounen?" Blanc shook her head._

" _It's a battle harem, slice-of-life novel." Neptune blinks in confusion as Blanc opened her mouth to repeat herself, only for Neptune to cover her mouth again once he realized what she was going to do._

" _So what did you want me to help you with?"_

" _Critique it." Before Blanc could finish her two word sentence, Neptune was already sitting up and taking out a permanent pen. "Hey!" Blanc headbutted Neptune, knocking the both of them to the ground. Pulling the booklet out of Neptune's hands, Blanc held the object close to her chest. "Don't corrupt my child?" Neptune looked up, eyes closed. Standing up and rubbing his head, Neptune looked at Blanc with an exasperated expression on his face._

" _How am I supposed to critique your work when I can't correct it!" Blanc reached into her hat and pulled an exact copy of the booklet she handed to Neptune before. His eyes turning into white circles, Neptune looked at the booklet, then to Blanc's hat, then to Blanc. "Wha- How?"_

" _You'd be surprised to what I can hold under this." Blanc reached into her hat and pulled out a pen with an eraser on it._

" _Why don't you just use a pencil if you want to erase something?" Blanc looked at Neptune as if he was stupid._

" _Pencils are overrated." Taking the extra booklet, Neptune hesitantly agreed before reading through the booklet. It was only now that Neptune found out that after getting past the sound effects and screams, there no plot to follow, and any plot points that could be found was scattered throughout the booklet in random intervals._

" _Hey, Blanc. Can you explain to me what the plot was again?" Insulted that he couldn't get the plot in her masterpiece, Blanc explained the entire plot, which Neptune listened to and nodded frequently. Once Blanc had finished explaining the story, Neptune face-bedded and groaned. Blanc patted him on the back._

" _I know, the story is too amazing to get on your first read through." Scratching his head, Neptune stood up and walked over to his computer. Opening a browser, Neptune typed in a couple words and pulled up a map. Writing something onto a piece of paper, Neptune closed the browser and turned to Blanc._

" _Blanc."_

" _Yeah?"_

" _We're going shopping!"_

* * *

 _Blanc and Neptune walked out of a bookstore, bags filled with books that all had the same genre as Blanc's story._

" _Neptune?"_

" _Yeah?"  
_ " _Why did we buy all this?" Neptune shrugged his shoulders._

" _Studying." A question mark appeared over Blanc's head._

" _I thought you hated studying." Neptune shrugged his shoulders again. Blanc and Neptune headed to Blanc's house where Neptune pulls out a notebook that he just bought at the bookstore._

" _Blanc, I want you to write down all the plot points that you put in your… masterpiece." Nodding, the girl began writing in the notebook while Neptune took out a manga he had also purchased. Once Neptune had finished half of the manga, Blanc tapped Neptune on the shoulder._

" _Done." Taking the notebook, Neptune immediately crossed out irrelevant plot points while the girl reached out in futile desperation. "Why?" Neptune pointed his pen at her._

" _These plot points belong in an action genre, not whatever you're writing." Blanc narrowed her eyes._

" _Now my book sounds boring." Neptune's eyes twitched._

" _That's what a slice-of-life is!"_

' _You forgot the battle harem."_

" _Not necessary!"_

" _IT IS!" Sighing, Neptune put his head on his hand._

" _Just take out what doesn't sound right…" Frowning, Blanc took the notebook out and looked through it._

" _Fine, here." Looking through the notebook, Neptune nodded his head, smiling._

" _Alright, let's go to work!"_

" _Work?" Neptune raised an eyebrow._

" _Did you think I was gonna let you do this by yourself?" Blanc nodded her head as Neptune grabbed a piece of copy paper._

" _Well, too bad." Blanc sat down next to Neptune, grabbing a pen and paper._

" _...Thanks." Neptune grinned and gave his friend the peace sign._

" _No problem!"_

" _At least try to write in my handwriting." Neptune facedesked._

" _That's impossible!"_

* * *

 _The sun had set as Blanc held up the brand new booklet. The golden sun shining on the booklet through the veranda window while Neptune rubbed the exhaustion out of his face._

" _It's done!" Exhausted, Neptune took the booklet and looked through it, only for an anger vein to pop out upon seeing more sound effects. Blanc's eyes widened as Neptune pulled out a pen with permanent ink. "My child!" Blanc tackled Neptune to the ground, but the boy had anticipated it, twisting his body so that his arms would be free from being pinned down. Blanc did everything she could to wrestle the booklet out of Neptune's grasp while Neptune scratched through and edited the booklet._

" _Blanc, Neptune! Dinner's ready~!" Mina walked into the living room to find Neptune and Blanc lying on the floor. Blanc was on all fours, defeated as tears dripped onto the floor while Neptune lay on his back, triumph on his face. Reaching into her dress, Mina pulled out a camera and took a picture, putting it away immediately. "What were you two doing today?" Neptune propped himself to a sitting position, grinning and pulling Blanc close to him, who pouted and looked away._

" _We're making a book!"_

 _"...Light novel."_

* * *

"Did you really fight over a booklet, Aunty Blanny?" Blanc nodded, ruffling Plutia's head.

"Of course," Bored, Plutia poked Blanc on the nose. "It was the first book I had ever written." Pluta's eyes widened in amazement. "In fact, this is one of my favorite pictures." Plutia pressed her head against Blanc's hat, enjoying the poofy squishiness that it provided.

"Why?" Blanc smiled.

"Because, even though we both had gone through a lot of changes, Neptune and I are still as close as we possibly could be. Your daddy could have ignored my request, but he took the challenge and did more, teaching me a lot of things that I would have taken a while to learn in college." Plutia's eyes widened again.

"Woooow!" Nodding, Blanc played with Plutia's cheek, causing the girl to giggle happily. As Plutia squirmed about, she flipped the page to another picture, which looked like an ordinary one. "Ooh, Aunty! What's this one about?" Blanc narrowed her eyes, not able to figure what the significance of the picture was about. That is, until her eyes landed on the worn out and faded bookmark. Blanc's smile grew larger.

"This was about…"

* * *

 _ **To be continued in…**_

 _ **Memory 12: Differences**_


	13. Memory 12: Differences

_**Memory 12: Differences**_ _ **(Age 16)**_

* * *

 _Neptune and Blanc are in their homeroom class, enjoying their break time in between periods. Blanc was reading one of the numerous light novels Neptune had bought her last year, starting off from the page she had a bookmark on. The boy who had bought the books was cuddling Blanc, who was indifferent to the affection, seeing as Neptune was currently in his "I need to hug something" phase. IF was sitting in the seat behind Neptune and Blanc, which happened to Neptune's desk. Compa, who had been watching two of her childhood friends cuddle, puffed her cheeks out._

" _I wanna hug too~!" Compa dropped herself onto Neptune and Blanc, surprising the former and causing the latter to drop onto the desk because of the sudden weight increase. IF put away her phone and stood up, trying to pry Compa away. Once she had succeeded in saving Blanc from being crushed, IF watched Neptune comfort the smaller girl, as pages in her book had been crumpled, devastating her._

" _Hey, Nep." Neptune turned to IF when he was sure Blanc was feeling better._

" _Wassup, Iffy?" IF rolled her eyes at her nickname, it was embarrassing for her to hear even though she's grown up hearing it._

" _Had I not known you two for so long, I would have thought you two were dating?"_

" _Eh?" All four friends turned to look at the girl who sat next to Neptune during class, her eyes wide in shock. "Wait, they're not." Blanc and Neptune looked at each other then to their classmate._

" _No." The girl shook her head._

" _No way! You're joking!" Blanc stared at the girl._

" _Hey, Neptune."_

" _Yeah?"_

" _Was this girl next us always this stupid?" The girl gasped as Neptune rested his chin on Blanc's hat._

" _Dunno. Thought she was smart too." Compa frowned._

" _Nep-Nep, Blanny, that's not nice. At least use 'ignorant'!" IF sweatdropped._

" _Compa, I think that was the worst of all." Suddenly, the rest of their classmates looked over to Blanc and Neptune_

" _ **Wait, are they seriously not dating!?"**_

" _ **No way, I thought they were!"**_

" _ **I know right! Especially with how lovey dovey they act all the time!"**_ _Blanc and Neptune narrowed their eyes as Compa looked around, confused. IF's sweatdrop grew bigger._

" _No, we aren't dating." There were more voices of confusion._

" _ **But you two walk home everyday!"**_

" _ **And you share food all the time!"**_

" _ **And you're childhood friends!"**_ _Blanc raised an eyebrow._

" _Being childhood friends doesn't mean we're dating." Neptune nodded in agreement._

" _Yeah! We're more like… Sibling-Friends, right?" Now Blanc was confused._

" _The hell are you talking about?" As Neptune tried to explain what a Sibling-Friend was. The people in the classroom believe the two and slowly and hesitantly returned to their own devices._

* * *

 _School eventually ends and the group decides to go over to Neptune's house to do homework and eat dinner. Neptune was leading the pack by walking ahead, hands in his pockets, while wearing both of his headphones. Blanc immediately followed him by clinging onto his bag, using him as a guide so she can read without running into something and placing the bookmark on the previous page she was just on. IF and Compa followed them, the former hearing people whisper as they walked by._

" _ **Did you see that?"**_

" _ **Yeah, they're so close but they're not dating!"**_

" _ **That's so weird right?"**_ _IF narrowed her eyes until Compa patted her on the shoulder._

" _Iffy, don't get mad."_

" _I'm not, Compa. It's just that it's so rude that they're spreading rumors about Nep and Blanc like that." Compa smiled as the girl nodded her head._

" _I know Iffy, but I don't Nep-Nep and Blanny care." Shaking her head, IF nodded._

" _I think so too, but it still makes me feel uneasy." Suddenly, a rumbling came from Neptune's direction._

" _Iffy, Compa. If you don't hurry up, I'm gonna lock the house!" Neptune pulled off one of his headphones and dashed ahead, Blanc keeping pace despite bot looking up._

" _Ah, Iffy!"_

" _Yeah, yeah. Let's go!" Last time Neptune said this, he nearly did lock them out of the house, Blanc's house._

* * *

" _Dinner's ready~!" Since Mina was out of town for the week, Compa and Neptune, sort of, was in charge of cooking. Blanc was almost done with her book while IF was looking through her phone._

" _Here's Din Din!" Neptune and Compa placed the plates of food down as IF and Blanc, who put the bookmark back, helped set up the table._

" _Thank you for the food!" As everyone began to dig in, Neptune sat up, crying tears of happiness._

" _Compa, I swear if we weren't super close friends, I'd say I'd wanna eat your food everyday!" Compa giggled._

" _But Nep-Nep, you already eat my food everyday with Blanny and Iffy." Neptune threw his hands into the air._

" _Exactly!" IF sweatdropped as she failed to follow their conversation as Blanc silently ate. Once Neptune had calmed down, the boy flinched and stabbed something woth his fork. "Ew…." Neptune held up a sauteed eggplant. "Compa…"_

" _Oh, sorry, Nep-Nep! I forgot you didn't like eggplants." Neptune smiled at the teary eyed girl._

" _It's okay, Compa…" Neptune pointed the fork at Blanc. "Blanc…" Glancing to the side, Blanc saw the eggplant on the fork and immediately chomped on it. Compa and IF blushed as Neptune pulled the fork out of the girl's mouth. "Thank youuu~!" Blanc grunted and picked a tomato._

" _Neptune." The boy chomped onto the girl's fork without even looking. "Thanks."_

" _Mhm!" IF slammed her hands on the desk, while Compa grabbed hers and IF's mugs. The brunette pointed at Neptune, who just let go of Blanc's fork, and Blanc, who picked up a piece of fish and put the fork into her mouth._

" _What is this!?" Blanc and Neptune blinked their eyes, confused. "You two are so close to each other, but then you're basically siblings!" Neptune's face turned into big circles, his eyes watering and lips quivering while Blanc kept her signature bored face, but there were water droplets forming in her eyes._

" _Iffy!" Compa put her hands on her hips, frowning. "You're making Nep-Nep and Blanny cry!" Sighing, IF sat down putting her hands in the air in a surrendering-like stance._

" _Ah… I give up." Neptune finished his food and clapped his hands together._

" _Thanks for the food!" Blanc follows him. Neptune then pulls Blanc into a hug. "We did it Blanc! We defeated the rumors and Iffy's suspicions!" Blanc pressed her cheeks against Neptune's, nodding._

" _Poor IF." Compa pulled out a camera as Neptune nuzzles against Blanc._

" _No matter what, our friendship will never break. Right?" Blanc nodded._

" _Right." Compa put her camera away, reminding herself to send a copy to Aunty Mina. Standing up, Compa patted IF on the back of the head._

" _Iffy, do you want some coffee…"_

" _...Thank you." Compa smiled and headed towards the kitchen._

* * *

"And that's how your dad and I ignored rumors about us dating." Plutia tilted her head as Blanc gently pressed her chin against the child's fluffy hair.

"Aunty?"

"What's up?"

"Did you never go out with Daddy?" Blanc shook her head. "Never ever?" Another head shake. "Why not?" Blanc sighed, pulling Plutia closer to her.

"Because Plutia…" Blanc stared at the bookmark. Neptune had bought the bookmark for her when they bought all those books. "Neptune and I are something called Sibling-Friends." Plutia furrowed her eyebrows.

"Sibling-Friends?" Blanc chuckled.

"Basically when two people are so close that they see each other as best friends and siblings at the same time.

"Then… if Daddy had gone out with Aunty Blanny, would you be my mommy?" Blanc laughed, poking Blanc on the nose.

"Plutia, if I had married your dad, then you would haven't been born." Plutia grabbed Blanc's hand. "Heh, silly."

"But what would have happened if you were my Mommy?" Shaking her head, Blanc tickled her nose.

"Plutia, you really are silly, I'm basically your other mother." Flipping to the end of the book, Blanc found a picture of her, Neptune, Compa and IF on the day of Neptune's eighteenth birthday, with a cake that said "Happy Birthday, Neptune!" on it. "Oh, Plutia! This is one of my favorite pictures."

"Really!?" Blanc nodded, shifting Plutia to a comfortable position.

"Yeah, this was when your Daddy turned eighteen…"

* * *

 _ **To be continued in…**_

 _ **Memory 13: Sibling-Friends**_


	14. Memory 13: Sibling-Friends

_**Memory 13: Sibling-Friends**_ _ **(Age 17, Neptune's 18th Birthday)**_

* * *

 _Blanc was lying facedown, enjoying her weekend. The girl nuzzled her head into her pillow, enjoying the softness of the pillow. As Blanc slept away, the door to her room opened, revealing a mischievous-looking Compa. The girl sneaked into the room, humming a certain agent's theme. As she inched closer to Blanc, Compa would lessen the volume of her humming. Once she was at Blanc's bedside, Compa raised her hands, fingers jittering around._

" _Blanny~." The girl squeezed her eyes tighter, ignoring Compa's call. "Waaaaake up!" Compa wrapped her arms around Blanc's waist, lifting her over the nurse-to-be's shoulder. The sleepy Blanc slowly opened her eyes as Compa carried into the living room._

" _Compa…?" The girl smiled as she set Blanc on the couch, leaving her and skipping into the kitchen while IF handed her a cup of coffee._

" _Afternoon, Blanc." The girl nodded as IF patted her on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go pick up the cake, later!"_

" _...Bye." Mina sat down next to her daughter, gently shaking her awake._

" _Hi, Blanc." Blanc rubbed her eyes, finally getting the sleepiness out of her eyes. "Do you remember what day is it today?" After a second, Blanc looked out the veranda window to Neptune's house, nodding._

" _Did you already…" Mina shook her head._

" _At this point of week, Neptune is going to come over for dinner, ruining the surprise." Blanc looked at her mother, blinking slowly._

" _And?"_

" _I need you to stall Neptune in order to give us enough time to finish preparing." Blanc yawned and downed her coffee, standing up and handing the mug over to her mother. "Oh, right. Did you get a gift for Neptune?" Blanc nodded and headed up to her room, coming back with a small gift wrapped in purple wrapping paper and held down a light lavender ribbon. Once she handed the gift to her mother, Blanc put on her coat and hat, heading outside._

" _I'll do what I can." Blanc walked out of the Nishizawa house, turning towards the Planeptune household. As Blanc walked over to the next door house, the sun began to set. Knowing that Neptune would come out of his house around the time the sun had completely set. Going to Neptune's front door, Blanc reached into her hat and pulled out a house key. Blanc walked into Neptune's home, used to the silence that penetrated the entirety of this building. Since Blanc has been Neptune's best friend for basically their entire life, Blanc knew that there were three places that Neptune would be: the kitchen, the bathroom and his room. Since the kitchen was on the first floor, Blanc didn't need to check since this around the time that Neptune would come over to eat since he would have run out of supplies._

 _Heading up the stairs, Blanc walked down the hallway to find that the bathroom was open, defining that Neptune was not in there. Turning from one side of the hallway to the other, Blanc walked over to the door to Neptune's room, opening it and walking inside without giving a second thought._

 _Blanc found Neptune lying on his back, arms under his head and eyes closed. Neptune had his favorite headphones in both ears. Staring at her best friend, Blanc blinked her eyes for a second before walking over and poking him on the cheek. Neptune didn't respond, so the girl poked him again. No response, and another poke. When her pokes obviously had no effect on him, Blanc quietly called out his name. Since Neptune didn't respond, Blanc stepped backwards and fist pumped. Seeing her mission was technically complete, Blanc turned and began heading for the door._

" _...Blanc?" Blanc clicked her tongue and turned around. Neptune was sitting up, rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing here?" The boy-turning-adult pulled off his headphones and rubbed his eyes. Blanc looked at the ceiling, thinking of plan to finish the mission that her mother had given her._

" _Neptune."_

" _Yeah?" A smirk found it's way to Blanc's face._

" _I found where you hide your porn." Neptune stared at Blanc, confusion written all over her face._

" _Where I found my…" Neptune groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why would even know that- Never mind." The boy stood up, scratching his head. "I guess Aunty Mina wants me to come for dinner." Blanc froze. Neptune wrapped his headphones around his phone. "Alright, I'm com-" Blanc tackled Neptune, shoving him back onto bed. "Blanc, what are you doing!?" Pushing Blanc off of him, Neptune stood up again, only for Blanc to jump onto his back wrapping her arms and legs around his neck and torso respectively._

" _I'm bored…" Neptune stopped struggling and calmed down._

" _Oh, then why did you say that you found my porn?" Blanc blinked her eyes._

" _Wait, do you actually have-" Neptune covered her mouth._

" _No." Pulling Blanc off of him, Neptune walked over his console. "So what do you want to pl-" The sound of Neptune's stomach growling caused both Neptune and Blanc to freeze. Patting his stomach, Neptune looked up. "Hmm, I don't think that there's any food in the pantry so…" Standing up, Neptune turned to his best friend. "Hey, Blanc can we get some food before we play some games."Blanc glared at him._

" _No. Games first. Eat later." Blinking, Neptune nodded, confused. Tilting his head, Neptune returned to the console. As he set up the console, Blanc glanced at her phone, waiting for her mother's signal._

" _Hey, Blanc." Blanc glanced at her friend, his back facing her._

" _What?" Neptune stopped assembling console, which looked like a cube with a handle on the back of it, reminding Blanc of a lunchbox that they used to bring when they were kids._

" _Thanks." Blanc froze, nearly dropping her phone._

" _...What for?" Neptune turned around, smiling._

" _You know, for being my friend all these years." Trying to hide his blush, Neptune turned back to assembling the console. "If it wasn't for you being there, you know when Mom, Mother and Nep Jr., I would have gone insane out of loneliness a long time ago." Neptune faced Blanc again, this time not blushing but there was a genuine smile on his face. "Thanks for being my friend." Blanc smiled before shaking her head._

" _Neptune, we're not friends." Surprise appeared on Neptune's face. Blanc stood up and reached out to Neptune. "We're Sibling-Friends, we're family." Neptune girnned._

" _Hey, I thought that wouldn't stick!" Blanc chuckled._

" _It won't don't worry." Neptune pouted as Blanc's phone vibrated in her hand. "Oh, let me take this." Neptune nodded._

" _Alright~." Checking her phone, Blanc nodded as she got confirmation from Compa._

" _Neptune."_

" _Yeah?" Blanc grabbed him by the collar._

" _Let's go eat." Confused, Neptune unplugged the console before being pulled away._

" _Wai- What about the game?"_

" _Eat first. Games later."_

" _Eeeeeeh?"_

* * *

" _I'm home!" Blanc and Neptune walked into Blanc's house, where the lights had been turned off._

" _Sorry… for intruding?" After taking off their shoes and putting on their slippers, Blanc pushed Neptune to the dining room. "Hey, Blanc. I know where the food will be, you don't need to- Why is it so dark in here?" Once Neptune was pushed into the dining room, the lights turned on, revealing IF, Compa and Mina standing across the room, in front of a table with a cake and all of Neptune's favorite dishes and desserts._

" _Surprise!" Neptune stepped back, only for Blanc to keep him in place. Neptune looked around, confused and startled._

" _What is…" Compa giggled as IF crossed her arms._

" _Nep, did you forget your own birthday?" Neptune blinked his eyes and scratched the back of his head._

" _I… actually did…" Mina and Compa giggled as Neptune tried to ignore the embarrassment._

" _That actually helped out then…" Mina gestured to Blanc. "I had asked Blanc to stall time until we were ready for you." Neptune shrugged and looked at Blanc, who gave him a thumbs up. Grinning happily, Neptune gave Mina a peace sign, who happily gave it back to him. Blanc patted him on the back._

" _Happy Birthday, buddy." Neptune pulled Blanc into a hug. "Oh right, here." Blanc reached over to the table and handed him her present. "Here's my present." Eyes shining, Neptune immediately tore open the package._

" _Oh super sweet Space Rams!" Neptune held up the brand new notepad, complete with small color-coded pull out sticky notes for indexing. "How'd you know that I needed this?" Blanc shrugged._

" _You should learned to either close your door or keep your voice down." Confused, Neptune hugged Blanc again._

" _Aw, thanks Blanc! You're the best!" Compa pouted._

" _Nep-Nep open mine too!" Grinning, IF placed a hand on Compa's shoulder._

" _Now, now. Nep'll be able to open our gifts pretty soon." Mina nodded and took out a camera._

" _But first…!" Blanc and Neptune rushed to the other side of the table, where Compa and IF joined them in a group hug. "Alright, is everyone ready?" Mina held up the camera. "In the count of 3, say 'Happy Birthday~!'"._

" _ **...3!"**_ _Neptune took a deep breath, tears beginning to form at the corner of his eyes._

" _ **...2!"**_ _IF and Compa smiled as Neptune tried his best to hold them back._

" _ **...1!"**_ _Blanc pressed herself as close to Neptune, IF and Compa as much as she possibly could, smiling earnestly._

" _ **Happy Birthday~!"**_

* * *

"As for the presents, I don't really remember much except for the one I brought and that Nepgear and his parents called soon after. But that was pretty much Neptune's eighteenth birthday." Plutia clapped wildly as Blanc closed the photo album.

"Woooow, Aunty! You were suuuuuper close to Daddy, huh?" Blanc nodded before ruffling her head, getting up so that Plutia would move.

"Not 'were', Pluta. We 'are' super close." Neptune's voice came from the front door.

"I'm hoooome~! Where's my little pudding cup?" Plutia jumped for joy and ran towards the source of the voice.

"Daaaaaadyyyyyy~!" Laughter and shrieks followed.

"Haha! There she is!" Smiling, Blanc picks up the book and starts to clean up as Neptune entered the room, Plutia on his shoulder. "Morning, Blanc!"

"It's the afternoon, Neptune." The man laughed as Pluta lectured him on the time of day.

"Oh man, I'm being lecture by my baby girl! I guess I should retire huh?" As Blanc walked over to the trash can, Blanc looked at Neptune's smiling face, a face that she vividly remembered. "So anyways, what were you doing today?"

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. So, so, soooooo, Aunty Blanny and I went down Memory Lane!"

"Huh? Aren't we going there next month?"

"Nooooooo, Daddy. The imaginary one!" Neptune laughed as Plutia bopped him on the head.

"Ah, I see." Suddenly, Neptune noticed what was in Blanc's hands. "Oh hey, is that our photo albu- Wait, is that a pudding cup?" Blanc froze as a drop of sweat rolled down her face.

"Uh…"

"Blaaaanc?" Neptune raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"You know that was my last one right?" Blanc tossed the cup away.

"I guess."

"You're buying a new pack." Blanc chucked as she gave her Best Sibling-Friend a thumbs up.

"Sure. Although you have to pay half since I had to watch Plutia." Neptune sighed.

"Oh fine." Plutia laughed as she hugged her father.

"Daddy, you sure close to Aunty Blanny, huh?" Blanc laughed as Neptune scratched his cheek.

"Of course we are. We're Sibling-Frie-"

"That's not gonna stick."

"Oh come on, Blanc! Just let it stick for a year!"

"No." Blanc walked away, ignoring Neptune's pleas and Plutia's giggles. Walking upstairs, Blanc stopped in front of Neptune's room, smiling at the fact it wasn't just his room anymore. It was his and his wife's, the woman that finally gave Neptune a real family. Walking past Neptune's room, Blanc stopped in front of her own room, smiling. "I've got an idea." Blanc opened her door, closing it and walking over to her desk. Grabbing a pen, Blanc took out a fresh notebook. Staring at the cover, Blanc took out a permanent marker and wrote the title onto the cover. Leaning against her chair, Blanc grinned. "This'll be a good book."

As Blanc worked on her next book, she would glance at the title every now and then, her smile growing each time she looked at it. After finding a good stopping point, Blanc closed the notebook and stood up and headed outside.

Written on the cover of the purple and white notebook cover was three words- _Flying High Everyday._

* * *

 _ **Flying High Everyday - Fin**_

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_ Thanks so much for reading til the end, this marks the end of the "Family" series. Ironically, I finished the prequel last. But that's just gonna become a tangent. Anyways, from this point on, I'll be working on the rough draft of The Quartet, which will take a while since that's my MAIN project. I may have a side project that may be related to another side project, but will be just as short as that one. I haven't completely idealized them so please wait patiently for them and The Quartet. Until then, I hope to see you again my next story.**

 **-KaiyoNoUmi**


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